New Delhi, Mar 24: Thirty-two states and Union Territories (UTs) have announced complete lockdown to check the spread of the coronavirus in the country, informed the Central government on Tuesday.
There is a complete lockdown in as many as 560 districts of the country affecting several hundred million people.
Earlier, the complete lockdown was imposed in 30 districts, as of now, almost the entire country is in lockdown to restrict public movement in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus.
Three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha -- have announced lockdown in select districts with the governments continuously monitoring the situation and ready to extend the restrictions to other districts as well.
The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has announced restrictions on certain activities.
The Indian Railways has suspended all passenger train operations till March 31 in view of coronavirus.
Search
- Home
- Complete lockdown in 32 states, UTs across country due to COVID-19
Complete lockdown in 32 states, UTs across country due to COVID-19

COVID-19: CREDAI writes to PM, seeks immediate relief for sector

New Delhi, May 25: Realtors' apex body CREDAI has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking immediate relief measures to tide over the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The association, which has around 15,000 developer members, has sought one-time debt restructuring, lower interest rate on home loans and tax sops to boost liquidity and demand in the sector.
In an open letter to the prime minister, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) said, "In this distressful situation arising out of the COVID-19 calamity, we in the real estate sector seek immediate relief for our survival."
Stating that the sector contributes substantially to the country's GDP and has backward and forward linkages with almost 250 industries, CREDAI said, "Our survival, therefore, is not just desirable, it is rather crucial for the economy."
Liquidity crunch, stagnant demand and cartelization of raw materials are major impediments for the industry to kickstart, it added.
CREDAI made seven recommendations to revive the sector and sought immediate intervention from the prime minister.
Pointing out that the situation is "much worse" than global financial crisis in 2008, CREDAI said "a one-time restructuring scheme as was permitted by RBI in 2008 may be quickly instituted by all lending institutions."
Since real estate was already reeling under a cyclical downturn before COVID-19, debt restructuring needs to be allowed for all accounts which were standard as on December 31, 2019, it added.
CREDAI demanded that all banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) should be directed to provide additional credit equal to 20 per cent of the existing real estate project related advances with no additional security and without the classification of project as NPA.
The penal interest charged by banks and financial institutions should be suspended for a period of one year or until such time as it takes for the pandemic to abate.
To revive housing demand, CREDAI suggested that "government should reduce the maximum rate of interest on new home loans to 5 per cent by subsidizing the interest component of EMIs for next five years."
The limit of principal deduction on housing loan under Section 80C should be increased to 2.5 lakh.
Interest deduction under Section 24 on housing loan for homebuyers may be increased to Rs 10 lakh, it said.
There should be no capital gains for residential properties held for a period longer than one year.
CREDAI also demanded that the subvention scheme be allowed again by National Housing Bank (NHB) and the Reserve Bank.
Under the scheme, builders used to pay EMIs on behalf of homebuyers during construction of projects.
"The economic uncertainty and job insecurity at the moment would not allow purchase of residential property at this time. A scheme whereby a homebuyer would need to pay only margin money with no EMI for 24 months will address this insecurity," the letter said.
The association pointed out that prices of cement and steel have been increased during the lockdown period, and asked for crackdown on cartelisation by manufacturers.
On the GST front, CREDAI said that the current regime of GST provides a rate of 1 per cent for affordable housing.
"The limit of Rs 45 lakh serves as a criterion of affordability for the purpose of GST. On all other housing, GST is applied at the rate of 5 per cent without input tax credit. It has been felt that the criterion of Rs 45 lakh is too low an index of affordability anywhere across the country, and especially so in the metros," the letter said.
It will serve as an inducement to buyers in the metros if the benefit of GST at the rate of 1 per cent is extended to units costing up to Rs 75 lakh, the association said.
CREDAI pointed out that the flat rate of 5 per cent GST for under construction residential housing is causing cost build up and is acting as a deterrent for sale of under construction projects since there is no GST on completed units.
It suggested that GST rate of 1 per cent and 5 per cent, without input tax credit, should continue.
"However, an option of GST @12 per cent for normal housing/ 8 per cent for affordable housing (with 1/3rd deduction for land i.e. effective GST rate of 8 per cent for normal housing and effective GST rate of 5 per cent for affordable housing) with input tax credit (ITC) benefits in line with the scheme applicable for the works contracts for government may be revived and made applicable to the real estate," the letter said.
Lastly, CREDAI demanded that a Rs 25,000 crore stress fund for completing stalled housing projects should be deployed at the earliest.
"We shall be grateful for your much-needed intervention for the above mentioned measures required to revive the real estate sector," CREDAI said in the letter to the PM.
Comments
Add new comment
- Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
- Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
- Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
- Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Norms of Sanatan Dharma ignored for Ram temple Muhurat: Digvijaya Singh

New Delhi, Aug 3: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should defer the foundation stone laying ceremony for Ram temple from August 5 as it will be an "inauspicious hour" for the event.
"I request Modi Ji again that the inauspicious occasion of August 5 (for foundation stone laying ceremony for Ram temple) should be deferred. The construction of Ram temple is to begin after hundreds of years of struggle and PM Modi should leave his stubbornness that may cause an obstruction in the process," Digvijaya tweeted (translated from Hindi).
The Congress leader went on to claim that several BJP leaders were falling sick due to COVID-19 as the result of ignoring the norms of Sanatan Dharma. "The results of ignoring the norms of Sanatan Dharma are - all priests of Ram temple tested positive for COVID-19, death of UP Minister Kamal Rani Varun due to corona, UP BJP chief tested COVID-19 positive, Home Minister Amit Shah tested positive for COVID-19, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tested positive for COVID-19, Karnataka CM Yediyurappa tested positive for COVID-19," he added.
"Lord Ram is the epicentre of faith for crores of Hindus and the PM should not play with norms and traditions of Sanatan Dharma established across thousands of years," he added.
The Congress leader further questioned the urgency of holding the foundation stone laying event in times when COVID-19 spread is prevalent across the country.
"By laying the foundation stone for Ram temple at an inauspicious hour, how many people do you want to send to the hospital Modi Ji? Yogi Ji, please explain to Modi Ji. In your presence, why are the norms and traditions of Sanatan Dharma being broken? What is your compulsion that you are allowing this to happen?" he contended.
"One more question arises. A minister of the Uttar Pradesh government died due to coronavirus. Union Home Minister tested positive for COVID-19 and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief also tested positive. In these circumstances, whether Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and India's Prime Minister should not be quarantined? Is being quarantined only mandated for common people? Not for Prime Minister and Chief Ministers? The time limit for quarantine is 14 days," he added.
He further said that the entire cabinet should go into quarantine otherwise they will infect the residents of Ayodhya.
"These people's religion is 'Hindutva' and not 'Sanatan Dharma'. hence they have nothing to do with Sanatan Dharma's traditions. They have broken all the norms. Now, Modi Ji will issue the muhurta and he will only lay the foundation stone," he tweeted.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5.
The construction of Ram temple will begin after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone in which Chief Ministers of several states, Ministers from the Union Cabinet and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are also likely to participate.
Comments
Add new comment
- Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
- Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
- Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
- Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Covid-19: UGC asks Universities to set up help line for students

Bengaluru, Apr 8: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities and higher education institutions across the nation to set up helpline to combat mental health issues among students during the Covid-19 crisis and nation-wide lockdown period.
In an official circular, the UGC stated that, "It is important to address psychological concerns of students and to address mental health and for the well-being of students, universities/colleges and higher education institutions should setup mental health helplines."
These helplines need to be monitored by counselors and other identified faculty members. "It is important for students to stay calm and stress-free. This can be achieved through telephones, e-mails, digital and social media platforms," says UGC.
Comments
Add new comment
- Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
- Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
- Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
- Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Comments
Add new comment