Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the nation today.
Coronavirus India Live updates: In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special Rs 20 lakh crore financial package for a self-reliant India besides hinting at further expansion of nationwide lockdown with more ease in restrictions. He also said that India needs to be self-sufficient to overcome the coronavirus crisis.
“Special economic package will have emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws. Special economic package is for our labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industry,” PM Modi said, adding that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will deliberate on the implementation of the package in coming days. He also said that India has ramped up its PPE manufacturing capacity in the wake of the Covid-19 crises and is now producing over two lakh PPE kits and N95 masks daily.
With India reporting 3,604 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections Tuesday crossed the 70,000-mark to reach 70,756 including the 22,454 people who have been treated and discharged so far. The death toll also rose to 2,293. According to the Home Ministry, the recovery rate stands at 31.15 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Railway services starting Tuesday will run to full capacity, while leaving it up to the passengers to maintain social distancing on board, and to states to decide the protocol on arrival. More than 54,000 passengers made reservations for their train journeys within three hours after the Indian Railways opened booking on Monday. Also, sources have told The Indian Express that Aarogya Setu app is a must for people travelling by trains. Passengers who don’t have it will be asked to download even after reaching the station.
Globally, 41,781,56 people have been infected so far, with deaths exceeding 286,000. According to Johns Hopkins data, the United States continues to be the worst-affected country with 79,894 fatalities and 1,339,819 cases, followed by United Kingdom (32,140 deaths and 224,327 cases) and Italy (30,379 deaths and 219,814 cases).
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Medics at a government hospital in New Delhi, Monday.
A woman police officer at work at Junabazaar chowk, one of the containment areas in Pune on Monday.
The Government of India has started to ease the lockdown restrictions, which has been in place since March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The government may also start domestic air travel for people stuck in various parts of the country. According to a PTI report, the government is looking to “make it mandatory for people to have Aarogya Setu mobile application installed in their phones while taking a flight post-lockdown.”
“Preliminary discussions regarding making this app mandatory for air passengers have been done with the airlines,” government officials told PTI.
The report adds, that if the proposal gets approved by the Aviation ministry, passengers will be required to have the app installed and completely functional on their smartphones before being allowed to travel.
The State government has decided to temporarily release 17,000 inmates, 50 per cent of the pre-lockdown population in jails across the state, in the wake of more than 180 positive cases of Covid-19 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai and to avoid the spread of the infection inside jails in future.
A high-powered committee (HPC), formed as per Supreme Court directives to lay down steps to decongest prisons in the backdrop of the pandemic, held a meeting on Monday after 185 positive cases surfaced at Arthur Road Jail: 158 inmates and 26 jail staff have tested positive, along with one case in Byculla Jail. The committee has made further recommendations to the government, based on which the state prisons department has increased the number of prisoners slated to be released temporarily.
Janmoni Gogoi, 20, who sells vegetables on a bicycle to support her parents financially during the ongoing lockdown, has been gifted a two-wheeler by the Assam Police.
Police officers came to know about Gogoi after her photograph selling vegetables, with large bags hanging from the handle of her bicycle and a basket on its carrier, went viral on social media. “Her self-respect prevented her from taking monetary help. So we came up with the idea of gifting her a two-wheeler so that she can carry her vegetables more comfortably and in larger quantities,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Pallavi Mazumder told news agency PTI. Here is a curated list of some interesting stories from across the country on Day 49 of India’s coronavirus lockdown.
On May 10, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a set of considerations that countries may refer to when deciding whether to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to UNESCO, over 1.57 billion students have been affected by school closures in more than 190 countries during the pandemic.
Some countries in Europe have started lifting restrictions on their residents. On Tuesday, over a million children are scheduled to go to school in France, and in Germany, schools have been partially reopened for younger children. In Spain, schools are shut till September with the exception of classes for some students. In the UK, only two per cent of children are attending school at the moment and the government has urged schools and authorities to encourage more children to come to school.
As the first passenger trains from Delhi are scheduled to arrive in the state on Wednesday, the Assam government has announced that only those showing symptoms will be tested.
The first batch of passengers — over 800 people — will be arriving in Assam on the special trains, starting Wednesday. This number includes a vast majority from the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh, who would be getting down at the last stop of Dibrugarh. The Arunachal Pradesh government will be responsible for ferrying them back home. These trains are expected to run through the week.
Financial package should have been announced earlier. It is not clear what is in the package for laborers, farmers, traders, and MSMEs. Tomorrow Finance Minister will clarify it then only it will be clear which sector is getting what: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Tuesday announced financial assistance of Rs 2,000 each to jeep safari and elephant safari operators engaged inside Kaziranga National Park, whose services were badly hit due to COVID-19. CM Sonowal visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for the Asian one-horned rhinos on Tuesday to take stock flood preparedness in view of the imminent monsoons. With African swine fever infection reported from many parts of the state, the CM also directed officials to constitute a skilled task force comprising veterinary doctors and forest officials to contain the spread of the infection, and monitor the health of the animals in general.
In the second phase of the repatriation mission by the Indian navy, more than 200 Indian citizens stranded in Maldives due to the COVID-19 pandemic arrived here by a Naval ship on Tuesday evening, officials said.
"The second Indian Navy ship under 'Operation Samudra Setu' - INS Magar with 202 evacuees from Maldives arrived at Cochin Port on Tuesday at 5:45 pm," a Cochin Port Trust statement said here.
There are 91 repatriates of Kerala, 83 of Tamil Nadu and 28 belonging to 15 other states and Union Territories, it said.
The vessel is berthed at BTP Jetty and the disembarkation procedures, including examination and clearance by PHO, Customs and Immigration, are being carried out inside the Terminal. (PTI)
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, BJP president J P Nadda said, "In the times of COVID 19, Hon PM @narendramodi is leading the country from the front. The 21st century will be defined by India, Hon PM’s message today has laid foundation stone for implementing this. #AatmanirbharBharat is our Mantra for driving country towards this new change."
"Today, our Honble PM has declared the world’s largest holistic relief package. The Modi govt has given financial packages of Rs 20 Lakh Crore to support every section of the society. It is around 10% of Indian GDP. Hon PM’s proactive approach will build a #AatmanirbharBharat."
"Self-reliance is the panecea to fight COVID-19. I thank PM Shri @narendramodi ji for announcing holistic package of 20 lakh crore to address land, labor, liquidity & laws. Rooted in our ethos of 'vasudhaiv kutumbkam', self-reliance will not only benefit us but the whole world."
In his fifth address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package totaling Rs 20 lakh crore to tide over the Covid-19 crisis under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. The Rs 20 lakh crore package includes the government’s recent announcements on supporting key sectors and measures by Reserve Bank of India.
The prime minister said the goal of the country would be to become self-reliant, and identified economy and infrastructure as key drivers for it. He said making the country self-reliant was only way to make 21st century belong to India.
“India’s self-reliance will be based on five pillars — economy, infrastructure, technology driven system, vibrant demography and demand. When India speaks of self-reliance, it does not advocate for a self-centered system. In India’s self-reliance there is a concern for the whole world’s happiness, cooperation and peace,” PM Modi said.
India's self-reliance will be based on five pillars -- economy, infrastructure, technology driven system, vibrant demography and demand: PM Modi
Top points from PM Modi's address to nation
IIT Delhi's low-cost COVID-19 testing kit will be produced by a Bengaluru-based biotechnology firm and is expected to be available by the first week of June, according to officials.
The large scale assembly and manufacturing of the kits by Genei Laboratories will be carried out at a facility exclusively set up for COVID-19 testing kits at the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) in Visakhapatnam.
"Genei Laboratories is one of the companies which has received the non exclusive license from IIT Delhi for the Probe free RT-PCR based COVID-19 low cost test kit," Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao said.
IIT Delhi, which has become the first academic institute to develop a COVID-19 testing method, is planning to give non-exclusive open licence to companies for commercialising the test, but with a price rider. While the institute has kept a price rider of Rs 500 per kit, Genei Laboratories has not announced the price yet. (PTI)
Two major takeaways. Rs 20 lakh crore package which will cater to every section will be announced in the coming days to make india self reliant, lockdown 4 will be in new form ans details will be announced by May 18.
PM Modi's address to the nation
#Special economic package will have emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws. Special economic package is for our labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industry.
#Beginning Wednesday, finance minister will announce details of special economic package.
#Lockdown 4.0 to be annoucned before May 18. This lockdown will be different from the lockdowns imposed in past. We need to maintain social distancing but also have to keep our goals alive.
PM Modi's address to the nation
#Rs 20 lakh crore special financial package for self-reliant India, which is equivalent to nearly 10 per cent of India's GDP. This package will aid India's MSME sector, which employs a majority of India's population.
#When India talks of self-dependence, its focus is not on a capital-centric world order, but on the welfare of humanity at large, based on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
#I remember the devastation in Kutch after the earthquake. But Kutch got back on its feet. This shows our resolve. And today, we have both resolve and resources.
#In a world that is fighting life & death, India's medicines today bring a new hope. With these steps, when India is being praised everywhere in the world, every Indian feels proud
PM Modi's address to nation
#We had never seen or heard about such a crisis ever before. This is definitely unimaginable for mankind. This was unprecedented. But humanity will not accept defeat from this virus. We have to not only protect ourselves but also move forward: PM Narendra Modi
More than 42 lakh people from different countries have been infected by #COVID19, more than 2.75 lakh people have lost their lives due to the virus. In India too many families have lost their dear ones, I express my condolences to them.
#Self-sufficiency need of the hour. When the crisis started then not even a single PPE kit was manufactured in India, only a few N95 masks were available. Today 2 Lakh PPE kits and 2 Lakh N95 masks are manufactured in India daily.
Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kannur in Kerala landed at Kannur Airport at 7:24 pm today. The flight brought back 182 Indian nationals which included 5 infants.