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Pradhan asks LPG distributors to maximise free Ujjwala refills for benefit of poor

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan interacts with over 1000 LPG distributors through video conferencing

New Delhi (NVI): Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel DharmendraPradhan interacted with over 1,000 LPG distributors from across the country through video conferencing and asked them to maximise free Ujjwala refills for benefit of poor.

While lauding them for ensuring doorstep delivery of LPG cylinders during the lockdown, Pradhan appealed to the LPG distributors to proactively reach out and maximise the delivery of three free LPG cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. PMGKY has been announced for the poor to help them fight the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Minister also complimented them for taking all necessary precautions, including sanitisation of LPG cylinders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and ensuring safety of the delivery boys and their consumers, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said.

He further asked the distributors to continue making the delivery boys and through them the consumers aware about the importance of using face masks, AarogyaSetu app, cleaning hands and social distancing in defeating the pandemic.

The minister said that the frontline warriors, i.e., the delivery boys have proved effective in the dissemination of this useful information among the consumers. He urged the distributors to continue with the good work in following the SOPs of Social Distancing, sanitisation and hygiene at the workplace to minimise the risk of infection. He also urged them to be empathetic towards front line LPG warriors and take all possible care of them.

On Earth Day, PM gives a shout out to Covid-19 warriors

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today gave a big shout out to those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19 on the occasion of Earth Day 2020 and urged people to work towards a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous planet.

“On International Day of Mother Earth, we all express gratitude to our planet for the abundance of care & compassion. Let us pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier & more prosperous planet. A shout out to all those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19,” he tweeted.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also tweeted on the occasion saying that its Chandigarh ENVIS Centre organised a contest for students and teachers of over 50 Schools of the Chandigarh city, yesterday.

Earth day 2020 is not just the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but also the anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement to take climate action. The day is celebrated on April 22 every year.

As coronavirus has been spreading around the world and dominating news headlines, thoughts and attention, the need to take climate action has remained as urgent as ever, according to UN environment programme.

The first Earth Day took place in 1970. Outraged by oil spills, smog and polluted rivers, 20 million people took to the streets, protesting what they recognized as an environmental crisis. It was the planet’s largest civic event at the time and compelled governments to take concrete actions, including passing environmental laws and establishing environmental agencies.

In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution formally recognizing the day as International Mother Earth Day. On Earth Day 2016, the United Nations formally adopted the Paris Agreement, articulating the commitment of nations to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels; and to strengthen the ability of countries to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

Four militants killed in Kashmir encounter

July 18 Shopian encounter: Army completes summary of evidence
An encounter site in Kashmir (File Pic)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Four unidentified militants have been killed in an encounter at Mehloora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district, police officials said today.

Acting on a tip-off, joint teams of police, army and CRPF laid a siege in Mehloora village of Shopian late on Tuesday evening. “There were specific inputs about the presence of militants in the village. A multi-layer cordon was laid to ensure militants don’t flee,” a police officer told NVI, requesting anonymity.

He said that searches were intensified and with the first light of the day, hiding militants fired a volley of bullets at the security forces triggering a fierce encounter. “In the initial exchange of fire, two militants were killed while as two others continued to fire from different locations,” the officer said.

In the morning, the security forces launched the final assault and killed two more militants.

“In total four militants have been killed in the encounter. The firing has stopped and the area is being sanitised,” the officer said, adding that search operation is on in the area.

“It was a clean operation without any collateral damage,” he said.

He said that the identity and affiliation of the slain militants is being ascertained.

Kashmir zone police tweeted, “Four unidentified militants killed. Arms and ammunition recovered. Operation over.”

Locals of Mehloora said the house where militants were hiding was razed to ground completely.

Police urged people not to go closer to the encounter spot till the area is properly sanitised.

UN warns of global hunger; COVID-19 cases top 2.56 mn worldwide

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 2.56 million people globally taking the fatalities to more than 1,77,000, according to John Hopkins University tally.

The United Nations has warned that global hunger could double as a result of the novel coronavirus, putting 265 million people at risk.

In addition to this, the total number of positive cases in US has reached 8,25,041 while more that 40,000 have lost their lives due to the deadly virus.

In UK, 823 new deaths were reported, taking the total to 17,337 in the country, according to Department for Health and Social Care.

Italy reported 534 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 24,648, with the positive cases till date standing at 1,83,957.

Meanwhile, Singapore has extended a month-long lockdown until June 1 after a surge in positive cases were reported.

Total Covid-19 cases rise to 19,984 in India; death toll at 640

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 19,984 and 640 died from the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.

In the past 24 hours, 1,383 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported.

At least 50 people succumbed to the pandemic in a day.

Maharashtra continues to remain worst affected state with 5,218 coronavirus cases.

While Gujarat has replaced Delhi in the second place with 2,178 COVID-19 cases, there are 2,156 cases in national capital, Health Ministry data showed.

Other states with a high virus hit included Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Goa and Manipur have declared themselves as Coronavirus free states.

At present, the number of active coronavirus cases stands at 15,474, while 3,869 people have cured or discharged.

Over 541 tons of medical cargo transported by Lifeline Udan flights

(Source: Twitter @MoCA_GoI)

New Delhi (NVI): 316 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers during COVID-19 lockdown, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said today.

196 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 541.33 tons, the ministry said in a statement.

Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 3,14,965 km, it added.

‘Lifeline Udan’ flights are being operated by MoCA to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19, the ministry said.

Apart from this, helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients. “Pawan Hans till 20 April 2020 have carried 1.90 tons of cargo covering a distance of 6537 kms,” the ministry said.

The domestic Lifeline Udan cargo includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits, Personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves, other materials of HLL and ICMR; cargo requisitioned by State/UT Governments and postal packets etc.

Domestic Lifeline Udan flights operate in a hub and spoke model. Special focus has been on the North East Region, island territories and the hill states. Air India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

Bulk of the cargo comprises light-weight and voluminous products like masks, gloves and other consumables, that consume relatively larger storage space on the aircraft. Special permission has been taken to store cargo in the passenger seating area and overhead cabins, with due precautions, it said.

Health Min launches ‘Covid India Seva’

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today launched ‘COVID India Seva’, an interactive platform for citizens’ engagement on COVID-19 and respond to their queries in real-time.

The interactive platform is aimed at establishing a direct channel of communication with millions of Indians amid the pandemic, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.


This initiative is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and answering citizen queries swiftly, at scale, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said in a statement.

Through this platform, people can pose queries @CovidIndiaSeva and get them responded to in almost real time.

@CovidIndiaSeva works off a dashboard at the backend that helps process large volumes of tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution, the ministry said.

Covid: CAT benches suspended till May 3

Batla House
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The functioning of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) benches will remain suspended till May 3, to contain the spread of Covid-19, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said today.

The CAT benches adjudicate service matters of central government employees.

The feasibility of working on certain days already declared as holidays or vacation shall also be considered once the functioning begins, the Ministry said in a statement today.

The decision was taken based on information that the High Courts are not functioning and exceptional cases are dealt with through video conferencing.

In almost all places, the CAT benches are located at hotspots and the representatives of Bar have also expressed their difficulty in filing or pursuing the cases in this situation, the Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier, on April 14 it was stated by the ministry that the possibility of functioning of the CATs would be examined after April 20, “depending upon the decision which the government may take as regards the lockdown”.

66 new Covid-19 cases take Afghanistan tally to 1,092

New Delhi (NVI): A total of 66 new coronavirus cases were reported in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases to 1,092, according to the country’s Health Ministry, Afghan media reported.

Among the new cases, 52 were reported in Kabul, 5 in Laghman, 4 in Baghlan, 4 in Nangarhar and 1 in Paktia, according to reports.

Kabul, with a total of 385 coronavirus infections, Herat at 334 and Qanadahar at 108, remain the country’s worst-affected areas.

More than a dozen staff members at the Afghan presidential palace have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as per Afghan media reports.

15 people have recovered from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, Afghan Health Ministry spokesperson Wahidullah Maya was quoted as saying by TOLO news.

So far, 36 people have died due to pandemic across the country and 150 others have recovered.

Covid-19 impact on industry to extend beyond Q1: Assocham survey

Indian economy

New Delhi (NVI): The industry is most likely to witness economic stress due to nationwide lockdown forced by the Covid-19 well beyond first quarter of the current fiscal, according to the respondents of an ASSOCHAM-Primus Partners’ joint survey.

The survey report has also highlighted that companies are planning deferment or cancellation of investment plans and that more employers prefer to retain manpower than those seeking to reduce the head-count.

The ASSOCHAM-Primus Partners Survey was conducted across different sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure and services with a sample size of 3,552, encompassing all segments of the industry- small, medium and large.

As many as 79 per cent of the respondents pointed towards the economic impact of the Covid-19 extending beyond a single quarter with the lockdown resulting in breakdown in the supply chain – from raw material to intermediates to finished goods and transportation to the consumer destination.

“While we expect major easing of lockdown after May 3, even if some states continue with stringent restrictions, the industry faces a long haul of challenges till the world finds a medical solution to the Coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, India remains among those least affected, aided by several factors like young population, ramp-up in health infrastructure, aided by nation-wide lockdown, though at a huge economic cost,” said ASSOCHAM Secretary General Deepak Sood.

“It goes to the credit of both employers and employees that we have so far avoided displacement of workforce. Companies are resorting to pragmatic solutions like reducing manpower costs and retaining the head count, while employees are responding well to the fast-developing situation being among the most important business stakeholders,” he added.

The survey also found that the biggest worry, as noted by 33 per cent respondents, arose from the lack of working capital while payment of salaries with output loss and without cash realisation was the second biggest pressure point for the industry ( 27 per cent).

Coming to business revenue, over 78 per cent of the respondents said the impact in the April-June quarter would be the maximum, while it would stretch to the subsequent quarter as well.

Regarding manpower, the survey noted that most of the participants (36 per cent) said there would be no change in the head count since the companies would like to retain the human resource for re-opening of the economy. However, as many as 26 per cent of the respondents did feel there could be reduction in manpower even beyond 20 per cent of the payroll because of on-going crisis.

While over 37 per cent of those surveyed said they were taking up cost containment initiatives, close to 29 per cent said they plan to defer or cancel their investment plans. A good number of them are resorting to change in financing plans, while the mergers and acquisitions, and remain on low key for now.

However a mixed picture emerged on the effectiveness of the government measures announced so far. While 34 per cent the measures were “somewhat effective”, another 27 per cent noted ”no effect”.

As per the survey, key challenges included lack of raw material, productivity loss, insufficient staffing to carry out critical work and limited operations due to transport operations.

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