Mar 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that he has decided not to participate in any 'Holi Milan' programme as experts have advised reducing mass gatherings to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
"Experts across the world have advised reducing mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID19 Novel Coronavirus. Hence this year, I have decided not to participate in any 'Holi Milan' programme," the PM tweeted.
This year, Holi is on March 10.
May 14: Customs officials on Wednesday intercepted China-bound consignments of raw material for masks, misdeclared as packing materials for pouches, in large quantities, a senior official said.
It has also seized multiple shipments containing 5.08 lakh masks, 57 litres of sanitiser and 952 PPE kits bound for the US, the UK and the UAE, the official said.
The export of such goods is prohibited by the government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"On the basis of specific intelligence, 2,480 kg of raw material for masks was intercepted by air cargo export, Delhi Customs. The goods were misdeclared as packing materials for pouches and were being illegally attempted to be smuggled/ exported to China," he said.
These goods are prohibited for export as per the latest guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Foreign trade (DGFT), he said, adding that investigation into the case is under progress.
In another catch, the air cargo officers intercepted multiple shipments containing 5.08 lakh masks, 57 litres of sanitiser in 950 bottles and 952 PPE kits at the courier terminal in New Delhi. These were attempted to be smuggled or exported out of the country, the official said.
"These goods are also prohibited for export," he added.
These items were being illegally exported to the United States, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. "No arrests have been made so far," the official said.
New Delhi, April 3: The Government on Thursday launched a mobile app developed in public-private partnership as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.
"The app, called 'AarogyaSetu' will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the coronavirus infection," an official release said.
It said that the app will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
"Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters," the release said.
It said that the app will help the government take necessary timely steps for assessing risk of spread of COVID-19 infection and ensuring isolation where required.
"The app's design ensures privacy. The personal data collected by the app is encrypted using state-of-the-art technology and stays secure on the phone till it is needed for facilitating medical intervention," the release said.
It said the app is available in 11 languages and has highly scalable architecture.
"This app is a unique example of the nation's young talent coming together and pooling resources and efforts to respond to a global crisis. It is at once a bridge between public and private sectors, digital technology and health services delivery," the release said.
Mumbai, May 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday reduced repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent in an effort to further boost liquidity in the economy which has been reeling under the impact of COVID-19 induced countrywide lockdown.
As a result, the reverse repo rate stands at 3.35 per cent, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 5:1 in favour of the decision.
Repo rate is the rate at which a country's central bank lends money to commercial banks, and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them.
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