Wednesday 30 September 2020

Corona updates 30 September 2020

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Coronavirus Latest News: Maharashtra extends lockdown till 31st October

Coronavirus Latest News: Maharashtra extends lockdown till 31st October
Government of India issues new guidelines for 'Re-opening'; cinema halls/ multiplexes/ swimming pools used for training of sportspersons/entertainment parks to re-open from 15th October
08:12 PM

Maha Lockdown

  • The Maharashtra Government on Wednesday extended coronavirus-induced lockdown till October 31, but also said that hotels, restaurants and bars will be allowed to operate from October 5 with restricted capacity.
  • All the trains originating and ending the journey within the state will be restarted with immediate effect subject to health protocols for COVID-19, the latest guidelines said.
  • Hotels, food courts, restaurants and bars can operate from October 5 with capacity not exceeding 50 percent or as prescribed by local authorities.
  • A separate Standard Operating Procedure will be issued by the tourism department for precautions to be taken while operating these establishments, an official release said.
  • All industrial and manufacturing units producing non- essential items will be allowed to operate in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
08:08 PM

Maharashtra: Hotels, food courts, restaurants & bars allowed to operate from 5th October with 50% capacity

08:08 PM

Maharashtra: Cinemas/ theatres/ multiplexes will be permitted to open with up to 50% of their seating capacity, for which, SOP will be issued

07:55 PM

ISRO to launch its Venus mission in 2025

  • ISRO is scheduled to launch its Venus mission in 2025 and France will participate in it, French space agency CNES said on Wednesday.
  • The VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS has been selected by the ISRO after a request for proposals, it said in a statement.
  • ISRO chairman K Sivan and CNES president Jean-Yves Le Gall held talks and reviewed the areas driving cooperation between France and India in space.
07:37 PM

India, China agree to hold 7th round of Senior Commanders' meeting at an early date: MEA

  • India and China on Wednesday conducted a meeting wherein they agreed that the next (7th) round of the meeting of Senior Commanders should be held at an early date.
  • The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Director-General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation.
  • This was the 19th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).

07:35 PM

Maharashtra CM has directed the Home Department to immediately start the procedure to withdraw charges against citizens who had protested against felling of trees for the construction of the proposed Metro car-shed at Aarey last year: Chief Minister's Office

07:19 PM

Rapid Antigen test price for private labs capped at Rs 719 by Government of Uttarakhand

07:04 PM

Govt cuts gas price by 25% to lowest on record

  • Natural gas price in India touched the lowest rate on record after the government on Wednesday slashed the price by 25 per cent to USD 1.79, denting revenues of producers like ONGC.
  • The price of gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and CNG for automobiles, has been cut to USD 1.79 per million British thermal unit for six months beginning October 1 from the current USD 2.39, an order of the Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said.
  • This is the third straight reduction in rate in one year. The price was cut by a steep 26 per cent to USD 2.39 in April.
  • The rate paid to producers of new gas from difficult fields such as deepsea has also been cut to USD 4.06 per mmBtu from USD 5.61.
06:39 PM

Two sides positively evaluated outcome of sixth round of military talks: MEA on Sino-India border talks

06:34 PM

Mumbai Police summons filmmaker Anurag Kashyap

  • The Mumbai Police on Wednesday issued a summon to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap to appear before them on October 1, in connection to the sexual assault allegations by actor Payal Ghosh.
  • According to reports, the director is expected to appear before the Versova police by 11 am on Thursday, for questioning on the offence registered against him.
  • On September 20, 'Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi' actor Ghosh accused Kashyap of sexual harassment. Speaking to ANI, she said, "Five years ago I met Anurag Kashyap regarding work. He called me to his house. When I went there, he took me to a separate room and tried to sexually assault me. He forced himself on me."

06:09 PM

RBI announces that the quantum of total market borrowings for the quarter October-December 2020 is expected to be Rs 2,02,242.35 crores

06:08 PM

No change in India's borrowing plan

  • Govt will borrow Rs 4.34 lakh cr in second half which is 36.16% of total borrowing. Govt announced borrowing of Rs 7.8 lakh cr in budget.
  • Due to COVID borrowing target increased to Rs 12 lakh cr.
  • There is no change of interest rate for small saving schemes: Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs
05:47 PM

28 working for Bengaluru Metro found COVID-19 positive

  • As many as 28 people associated with the Metro Rail here have tested positive for coronavirus since the services resumed on September 7 after remaining suspended for over five months due to lockdown, an official of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said on Wednesday.
  • At least 28 people working with the BMRCL had been found infected with coronavirus, the official told PTI, requesting anonymity.
  • "All of them have been quarantined at the designated places based on their health condition," the BMRCL official said, without giving any other details about those infected.
05:34 PM

Farmers continue 'rail roko' agitation in Punjab

  • Farmers protesting against three recently enacted agriculture laws continued their 'rail roko' stir in Punjab for the seventh day on Wednesday.
  • The farmers have decided to intensify their agitation from next month and extend the 'rail roko' stir for an indefinite period.
  • The farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have been squatting on rail tracks at various places in the state since September 24.
05:12 PM

India's August infrastructure output contracts 8.5% y/y- govt

  • India's infrastructure output contracted 8.5% in August from a year earlier, government data released on Wednesday showed.
  • Infrastructure output contracted 8% in July, revised data showed.
  • Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal, crude oil and electricity and accounts for nearly 40% of industrial output, contracted 17.8% in the five months through August from a year earlier, the data showed.
05:06 PM

India, China hold another round of diplomatic talks on border standoff in eastern Ladakh

  • India and China on Wednesday held a fresh round of diplomatic talks with a focus on implementing the five-point agreement reached between the two countries to resolve the nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh.
  • The virtual talks were held under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.
  • The focus of the talks was to de-escalate tensions, people familiar with the developments said, as the two sides discussed ways to implement the five-point agreement reached between their foreign ministers in Moscow on September 10.
04:59 PM

Average distance Indians travelled falls 56% in Jun-Aug

  • With a change in travel pattern due to the pandemic, a recent survey has showed that the average distance covered by Indian travellers dropped 56 per cent to 780 km in June-August as compared to last year, indicating that destinations closer to home are becoming popular.
  • Digital travel company Booking.com calculated that the average distance of the Indian participants who travelled between June and August 2020 is down 56 per cent compared with the year-ago period.
  • Indian travellers journeyed on an average 780 km per booking compared with 1,786 km per booking during June to August 2019, as per the company.
04:41 PM

CBDT revises due date for revised ITRs

04:25 PM

Delhi: Crucial meeting over upcoming Bihar Elections 2020 underway at BJP president JP Nadda’s residence. Home Minister Amit Shah, party’s Bihar election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis and Bhupendra Yadav present

04:25 PM

Serena Williams withdraws from French Open with an achilles injury

04:04 PM

Former Maharashtra CM and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis appointed party's Bihar in-charge, ahead of Bihar Legislative Assembly elections

03:58 PM

Delhi HC extends suspension

  • Delhi High Court announces to further extend the suspended functioning of the court work till Oct 8 due to COVID19 pandemic.
  • However, three benches on rotational basis will continue physical hearings and remaining benches will continue through video conferencing
03:57 PM

Punjab CM gives nod to waiver of annual license fee of bars, marriage palaces, hotels & restaurants for the years 2020-21 proportionately for months of April to September 2020 besides waiving quarterly assessed fee for first 2 quarters (April to June and July to September): CMO

03:51 PM

India's media, entertainment segment to reach Rs 1,86,600 cr revenue in FY22

  • The media and entertainment sector, which was badly hit due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to rebound to touch a revenue of Rs 1,86,600 crore in 2021-22, due to acceleration of digital adoption among users across geographies, according to a report.
  • The sector should recover and post a 33 per cent growth in 2021-22, following a contraction of 20 per cent in 2020-21, which still implies a loss of around two years of growth, said KPMG in India Partner and Head (Media and Entertainment) Girish Menon.
  • He was quoting the KPMG Media and Entertainment (M&E) report, 'A year off script: Time for resilience', which examines the performance of the M&E sector during a particularly challenging period.
03:43 PM

India reports current account surplus for second straight qtr at 3.9% of GDP in April-June

  • India's current account surplus increased to USD 19.8 billion or 3.9% of GDP for the June quarter as merchandise imports declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank said on Wednesday.
  • The country's current account surplus had come at USD 0.6 billion or 0.1 per cent of GDP in the preceding March quarter, while it had reported a current account deficit of USD 15 billion or 2.1 per cent of GDP in the year-ago period.
03:17 PM

India's active COVID-19 cases constitute 15.11 pc of total caseload: Health Ministry

  • India's active COVID-19 cases constituted 15.11% of the total caseload on as on Wednesday as against 33.3% on August 1, the Union Health Ministry said.
  • The ministry's data updated at 8 am showed there are 9,40,441 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
03:16 PM

CII nominates SAIL Chairman Anil Kumar Chaudhary as its PSE Council head

02:59 PM

Today is a sad day in the history of Indian judiciary. Now, the court says there was no conspiracy. Please enlighten me, how many days of months of preparations are required to disqualify an action from being spontaneous?

- Asaduddin Owaisi, on the Babri Masjid Demolition Verdict
02:51 PM

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulates DRDO for the successful flight testing of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile.

02:50 PM

Supreme Court declines to postpone UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, scheduled for October 4

02:47 PM

A Bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, asked the Centre to consider granting one more chance to those aspirants who may not appear in their last attempt for the exam due to the COVID-19 pandemic

02:46 PM

UK resumes US beef exports after two-decade ban lifted

02:38 PM

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Travel to Japan, S. Korea, Mongolia From October 4-8 - State Department

02:38 PM

Delhivery to create 15,000 seasonal jobs this festive season

02:37 PM

Mikako Kotani has been named Tokyo Olympics sports director

02:24 PM

India's current account surplus rises to USD 19.8 bln in June quarter

The country''s current account surplus rose to USD 19.8 billion or 3.9 per cent of GDP in the June quarter as merchandise imports declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank said on Wednesday.
02:19 PM

Rupee settles 10 paise higher at 73.76 (provisional) against US dollar

02:13 PM

Shiv Sena on Babri demolition verdict

Verdict saying demolition wasn't a conspiracy & a result of circumstances, was the expected judgment. We must forget that episode. If the Babri Masjid wasn't demolished we wouldn't have seen any Bhumi Pujan for Ram Mandir: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena,
02:09 PM

Need to move past Covid and uplift economic sentiment says Aditya Puri

India’s longest serving bank chief on Wednesday said that there was a need to change the sentiment in the country and move past Covid while taking social distancing precautions. Puri also said that HDFC Bank was back to pre-Covid levels in terms of business operations.
02:00 PM

Developer asked to pay Rs 5 cr for delay in property hand over

The Bombay High Court has directed real estate developer Renaissance Infrastructure to pay Rs 5.04 crore as compensation to a person who had not been handed over his property in Mumbai even after a delay over 80 months.
01:45 PM

Kuwait swears in new emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

01:45 PM

Our program and rallies were not part of any conspiracy. We are happy, everyone should now be excited about Ram Mandir's construction

- Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP
01:44 PM

It's a historic decision by the court. This proves that no conspiracy was hatched for December 6 incident in Ayodhya

- Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP
01:40 PM

Amazon India creates over 1 lakh seasonal job opportunities ahead of festive season

01:32 PM

The judgement vindicates my personal and BJP's belief and commitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomi movement

- Lal Krishna Advani after being acquitted by Special CBI Court, Lucknow
01:31 PM

I wholeheartedly welcome the judgement by the Special Court in Babri Masjid Demolition Case

- Lal Krishna Advani after being acquitted by Special CBI Court, Lucknow
01:21 PM

SC refuses plea for clubbing UPSC civil services exam of 2020 with 2021 exams

01:15 PM

SC asks Centre to consider granting one more chance to UPSC aspirants who may not appear in their last attempt for exam due to pandemic

01:13 PM

SC refuses to postpone UPSC prelims examination scheduled to be held on October 4 in view of COVID-19 pandemic

01:02 PM

3,443 new COVID19 cases, 3,869 recoveries and 14 deaths reported in Odisha

12:55 PM

Ravi Shankar Prasad arrives at the residence of Lal Krishna Advani

12:50 PM

UK GDP collapsed nearly 20% in Q2 in historic Covid hit

12:39 PM

Court says no conclusive proof against accused in Babri demolition case

12:32 PM

CBI failed to prove the case. Leaders including LK Advani and MM Joshi tried to stop the mob, says court.

12:27 PM

Spl CBI court observes that 'demolition was not pre-planned'. All accused have been acquitted.

12:22 PM

CBI court begins dictating its judgment in Babri Masjid demolition case

12:20 PM

Babri Masjid demolition case: LK Advani, MM Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Satish Pradhan and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das attend proceedings via video conferencing

ANI
12:12 PM

Farmers block Ambala-Hisar Highway

12:10 PM

Royal Dutch Shell plans to cut 9,000 jobs in transition plan

Royal Dutch Shell announced on Wednesday plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs, or over 10% of its workforce, as part of a major overhaul to shift the oil and gas giant to low-carbon energy.
11:57 AM

Members of the community of Hathras gang-rape victim