'His father dropped bombs in India,' says Digvijaya on Padmi Shri given to Adnan Sami

New Delhi, Jun 30: The Home Ministry on Monday issued guidelines for 'Unlock 2.0' phase across country between July 1 and July 31. The report stated that COVID-19 lockdown shall continue to remain in force in containment zones till July 31. In containment zones, only essential activities to be allowed. The government's guidelines come on a day when Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu extended lockdowns in their respective states to July 31.

Unlock 2.0 Guidelines:

•   Schools, colleges, educational institutes wil remain closed till July 31. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged

•   Lockdown shall continue to remain in force in containment zones till July 31st.  In containment zones, only essential activities to be allowed.

•   Night Curfew shall continue to remain in force, between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am, except for essential activities and other relaxations.

•   Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations remain prohibited.

•   International air travel, except as allowed by MHA, will also remain barred.

•   Shops depending upon their area, can have more than 5 persons at a time. However, they have to maintain adequate physical distance.

•   Training institutions of the central and state governments will be allowed to function with effect from July 15 and SOP in this regard will be issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs, urging them to ensure compliance of Unlock 2 guidelines and direct all concerned authorities for their strict implementation.

New Delhi, Apr 11: As India battles the Covid-19 crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a video conference with chief ministers primarily to take their feedback on whether the 21-nation-wide lockdown be extended beyond April 14 to stem the tide of the infections.

The Central government is understood to have also obtained views on the issue from all the relevant agencies and stakeholders involved in the efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The video conference, which began at 11am, comes amidst indications that the central government may extend the nationwide lockdown with some possible relaxations even as Punjab and Odisha have already announced extending the lockdown beyond April 14 when the current spell of 21-day shutdown across the country ends on Tuesday.

The Union Home Ministry has sought views of state governments on various aspects, including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted. In the current lockdown only essential services are exempted.

This is for the second time the prime minister is interacting with the chief ministers via video link after the lockdown was imposed.

During his April 2 interaction with chief ministers, Modi had pitched for a "staggered" exit from the ongoing lockdown.

A PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on Thursday at 9.30pm showed a total of 7,510 having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged. However, the last update from the Union Health Ministry put the number of confirmed infections at 7,447 and the death toll at 239.

Addressing floor leaders of various parties who have representation in Parliament, Modi had on Wednesday made it clear that the lockdown cannot be lifted in one go, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".

According to an official statement after the Wednesday interaction, the prime minister told these leaders that states, district administrations and experts have suggested extension of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

Before the lockdown was announced on March 24, the prime minister had interacted with the chief ministers on March 20 to discuss ways and means to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.

New Delhi, Jul 25: India reported a spike of 48,916 coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,36,861 including 4,56,071 active cases, 8,49,431 cured/discharged/migrated. With 757 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 31,358.

Maharashtra has reported 3,57,117 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 1,99,749 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,28,389 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,20,898 samples were tested for coronavirus on Friday and overall 1,58,49,068 samples have been tested so far.