Life giving ministries

NEW DELHI: The health ministry on Sunday said 106 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths were reported from six states in the last 24 hours. Joint secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said till now, there are 979 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, including 25 deaths. R Ganga Ketkar of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said till Sunday, 34,931 tests were conducted for the contagion. More on Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic: Complete Coverage 21-day lockdown: What will stay open and what won't How to quarantine yourself at home Trust the newspaper for your daily verified news … [Read more...] about 106 new coronavirus cases, six deaths reported from six states in last 24 hours: Health ministry

"We would hate to see a situation in which people have been paying perfectly good insurance premiums but will now lose their insurance cover, because of something they are completely unaware of," he said. … [Read more...] about ‘Hundreds of thousands’ of Australians could be left without life insurance during coronavirus pandemic

The health ministry on Sunday said 106 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths were reported from six states in the last 24 hours. Joint Secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said till now, there are 979 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, including 25 deaths. Raman Gangakhedkar of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said till Sunday, 34,931 tests were conducted for the contagion. "Capacity utilisation in the ICMR network is around 30 per cent. We have increased the number of laboratories, 113 have been made functional and 47 private laboratories have been given the approval to conduct COVID-19 tests," he said. Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Punya Salila Srivastava said employers must be instructed to give full wages to workers on the due date without any deduction for the closed-down period and landlords cannot charge rent for this period. She also said the workers cannot be forced to vacate the premises. "The SPs and DMs will be held personally responsible … [Read more...] about 106 new COVID-19 cases, six deaths reported from six states in last 24 hours: Health Ministry

These cash transfers are the lowest in the world. Every other country hit by the COVID-19 pandemic has done more for its poor and working people than the Indian government. It is a shame that a government that can write off bad loans, primarily to corporates, amounting to ₹2.4 lakh crore (in 2019) cannot even match that amount to save its poor from certain hunger and starvation. Whereas countries have guaranteed up to 70% to 80% of workers’ wages to prevent lay-offs, the Indian government limits it to a subsidy on EPF. If workers are thrown out of employment, what good would this be? … [Read more...] about An inadequate lockdown package

The nationwide tally of confirmed Coronavirus cases crossed the 1,000-mark and the death toll reached 27 on Sunday, even as the central government ordered sealing of all state and district borders to check community transmission of the deadly virus by migrant workers and asked those having left already to be quarantined for 14 days. The national capital alone reported 23 fresh positive cases, taking its count to 72, while more people tested positive in adjoining Noida as also in Maharashtra and Bihar, among other states. The new cases included a SpiceJet pilot with no history of international travel. The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024 and eight more persons died in this period to take the nationwide toll to 27, according to the latest official figures. As the 21-day lockdown entered its 5th day, the exodus of migrant workers from big cities continued unabated, desperate to return to their villages after being left jobless … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: Confirmed cases cross 1,000; govt orders sealing of state, district borders to check mass infection