India

Pune, Apr 15 (PTI) Three nurses working in the isolation ward of state-run Sassoon General Hospital here in Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.

The other nurses of the Pune-based hospital have been quarantined and their samples have also been sent for testing, he said.

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announed extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3, a large number of migrant workers who earn daily wages came out on road here on Tuesday demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places.

Daily wage workers have been rendered jobless ever since the lockdown was announced late last month to stem the spread of COVID-19, making their life a constant struggle.

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is likely to receive average monsoon rains this year, the state-run weather office said on Wednesday, raising expectations of higher farm output in Asia’s third-biggest economy, which is reeling from a coronavirus lockdown.

Monsoon rains are expected to be 100% of a long-term average, M. Rajeevan, secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences told a news conference.

India’s weather office defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning in June.

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) The Yes Bank rescue has undermined confidence of depositors in private sector lenders and will lead to smaller entities losing deposits to state-run banks, a report said on Tuesday.

The research report from global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service comes at a time when many private sector lenders have reported a contraction of deposits in the March quarter when the Yes Bank crisis happened. The RBI - which had to steer the over Rs 10,000 crore Yes Bank bailout - has repeatedly assuaged such concerns, saying money in all the banks is safe.

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Labour Ministry on Tuesday said it has set up 20 control rooms on pan-India basis to address wage-related grievances and to mitigate problems faced by migrant workers amid the lockdown period to contain the Covid-19 crisis.

The Prime Minister has announced extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 with conditional relaxation from April 20 in some areas on the basis of evaluation of the situation.

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) A special court here on Tuesday remanded Dalit scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde in the custody of the National Investigation Agency till April 18 in Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case.

Teltumbde was arrested by the NIA earlier in the day after he surrendered before it following the Supreme Court's directives.

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address a "rhetoric" and "hollow on specifics", saying he should spell out the government's strategy to tackle coronavirus and solve people's problems, rather than talk of what he expected of them.

A host of Congress leaders criticised Modi for not coming out with a financial package or concrete steps to revive the economy and asked what he was doing to mitigate the woes of poor, migrant labourers and farmers waiting to harvest crops.

Shillong, Apr 13 (PTI) A senior doctor here has tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, the first coronavirus case in the state, Health Minister A L Hek said on Monday.

The samples of the doctor who owns a private hospital here tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science, the minister said.

The doctor has no recent travel history.

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Indian Railways has extended the suspension of its passenger services till May 3, senior officials said on Tuesday.

They said the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till May 3 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have taken the decision keeping in view the extended lockdown period. More updates will be available shortly," the official said.

Earlier, all passenger services were cancelled till April 14 midnight.

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) The Shiv Sena and NCP said Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on Tuesday lacked substance as he did not suggest ways to strengthen the economy or a relief package for the poor and those worst hit by the lockdown.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande also took a dig at the prime minister, saying he thankfully did not give any activity to people this time like clanging utensils or lighting lamps.