North East

Even as his party has been up in arms against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the migrant labourers' issue, Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has appreciated PM Modi's "sincere attempts" to bring back those stranded to their home.Mr Chowdhury, the five-time MP from West Bengal's Berhampur Lok Sabha seat, in a letter to the PM last night, urged him to reduce the rate of tickets, if not making it free, keeping in view the fact that these out-of-job labourers are facing severe financial crunch."I do like to appreciate your sincere attempt of sending back…

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced relief for middle classes too today as part of the government's efforts to soften the blow of coronavirus. To allow people more cash in hand, the government has offered a 25 per cent reduction in TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) for non-salaried specified payments and TCS (Tax Collection at Source) for specified receipts, Ms Sitharaman said while announcing the contours of the 20 lakh crore financial package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday to counter the huge financial cost of the coronavirus.This will apply to payment for contract, professional fees, interest, rent, dividend,…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed gratitude to the "phenomenal nurses working round the clock" to keep the planet healthy, on International Nurses Day. He also thanked the nurses for their effort towards defeating COVID-19, caused by a highly contagious novel coronavirus."International Day of the Nurse is a special day to express gratitude to the phenomenal nurses working round the clock to keep our planet healthy. Presently, they are doing great work towards defeating COVID-19. We are extremely grateful to the nurses and their families," the Prime Minister tweeted.International Nurses Day is celebrated every year on May 12 to mark…

A 19-year-old pizza delivery boy who had tested positive for coronavirus last month in Delhi, prompting authorities to put 72 families in home-quarantine, has been discharged from the hospital, officials said Tuesday.All 16 high-risk contacts of the delivery boy, who were all his colleagues, had tested negative in April."The pizza delivery boy was discharged from the hospital last week. He is doing fine now," South Delhi District Magistrate BM Mishra told.

For the first time since its inception, the Supreme Court will have a single-judge bench hearing certain kinds of petitions from Wednesday. The new system is being introduced to dispose of piled up pending cases.A Supreme Court bench typically has at least two judges.The single-judge bench will hear appeals of bail and anticipatory bail petitions in cases that involve offences liable for punishment of not more than seven-year jail term. Earlier, such cases were heard by two-judge benches.

World Health Organization's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan today praised India for keeping the coronavirus cases and deaths very low compared to other countries and said it will play an important role in the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.She said the whole world has to be prepared for the ongoing transmission of infection for "many many months and for perhaps years to come".Ms Swaminathan said it is not just enough to develop and test the vaccine, but it is also crucial to manufacture it, scale-up procurement and get health systems to vaccinate populations.

In an escalating diplomatic row, Nepal's foreign minister summoned India's ambassador on Monday over a new road being built through the Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand that is claimed by Kathmandu.Nepal has expressed its anger since India on Friday inaugurated the 80-kilometre road along the border with China in Uttarakhand with Dharchula at a height of 17,000 feet in the Himalayas.

More than 4.02 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 276,894 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. The following table lists countries that have reported deaths and/or at least 100 confirmed cases as of 0145 GMT on Sunday. Countries and TerritoriesTotal CasesTotal DeathsTOTAL4,026,691276,895United States1,320,41378,644Spain26,299240,711Italy30,201217,185United Kingdom31,241211,364Russia1,827198,676France25,987174,791Germany7,327168,049Brazil10,627155,939Turkey3,689135,569Iran6,589106,220China4,63382,887Canada4,69367,702Peru1,81465,015India1,98159,662Belgium8,52152,011Netherlands5,35942,093Saudi Arabia23937,136Mexico3,35333,460Switzerland1,53230,231Ecuador1,71729,071Pakistan61827,474Portugal1,11427,268Chile30427,219Sweden3,17525,265Singapore2022,460Ireland1,40322,385Belarus12121,101Qatar1220,201United Arab Emirates17416,793Japan62816,480Israel24516,409Austria61515,756Poland77715,510Romania89814,811Ukraine37614,710Bangladesh21413,770Indonesia95913,645South Korea25610,840Philippines70410,610Colombia44510,495Denmark52210,218Serbia21310,032Dominican Republic3859,882South Africa1869,420Panama2378,282Czech Republic2738,087Norway2138,034Egypt4827,981Kuwait497,623Australia976,929Malaysia1086,589Argentina3005,776Finland2605,738Morocco1865,711Algeria4945,558Kazakhstan314,922Moldova1504,728Bahrain84,595Ghana184,012Nigeria1173,912Luxembourg1003,871Afghanistan1063,653Oman173,224Hungary4053,213Armenia443,175Thailand563,004Greece1502,691Iraq1042,603Uzbekistan102,349Cameroon1082,267Bolivia1062,266Azerbaijan282,204Croatia872,176Bosnia1022,090Guinea112,009Bulgaria861,872Iceland101,801Honduras1071,771Cuba741,754Estonia561,725Senegal141,634North Macedonia911,622Ivory Coast201,602New Zealand211,492Slovakia261,455Slovenia1011,454Lithuania491,436Djibouti31,135Hong Kong41,045Tunisia441,026Somalia48997Kyrgyzstan24931Sudan52930Latvia18928Guatemala24900Democratic Republic of the Congo39897Cyprus15889Kosovo27861Albania31856Sri Lanka9844Lebanon26796Niger44795El Salvador17784Costa Rica6780Andorra47752Maldives3744Burkina Faso48736Uruguay18702Mali37692Paraguay10689Kenya30649Georgia10626San Marino41623Gabon8620Tajikistan20612Guinea-Bissau2564Palestine4547Channel Islands41545Tanzania21509Jordan9508Jamaica9490Malta5489Mayotte4460Taiwan6440Equatorial Guinea4439Réunion–418Venezuela10388Mauritius10332Isle of Man23329Madagascar–327Montenegro8324Vietnam–288Republic of…

New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control. The Robert Koch Institute for disease control said in a daily bulletin the number of people each sick person now infects – known as the reproduction rate, or R – had risen to 1.1. When it goes above 1, it means the number of infections is growing. Chancellor Angela Merkel, bowing to pressure from leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to restart social life and revive the economy, announced on Wednesday measures that included…

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today welcomed the Centre's decision to borrow additional 4.2 lakh crore and said it should be used to provide relief to the poor and re-start the economy."After resisting our appeals, especially through statements of the CEA, the government has finally decided to borrow an additional amount of Rs 4.2 lakh crore taking the projected fiscal deficit to 5.38 per cent. We welcome the decision," he said in a statement.The senior Congress leader, however, said, "It is not enough to borrow more unless the amount is used to provide relief to the poor and to re-start…