India

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) Turning 'crisis into opportunity', India needs renewed focus on infrastructure in the wake of the damage caused by COVID-19 and talks are on with state governments to re-start highway construction projects where migrant labourers can be gainfully employed, union minister Nitin Gadkari said.

In a video-conference with PTI, the road transport, highways and MSME minister said talks are on with state governments for facilitating safe return of migrant labourers, an estimated 20 lakh of whom are in shelters pan-India.

Kolkata, Apr 11 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday declared extension of the lockdown till April 30, soon after a video-conference Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with CMs of different states where a broad consensus emerged about expanding the duration of the shutdown amid spurting COVID-19 cases.

Banerjee said the prime minister noted that the next two weeks were going to be "crucial and critical" in the fight against COVID-19.

Mumbai, Apr 11 (PTI) Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday said one of its staff passed away due to coronavirus infection in Chennai.

While the airline did not provide details, a source told PTI that the employee was an aircraft maintenance engineer and he passed away on Friday.

Bengaluru, Apr 11 (PTI): As many as 313 coaches in the South Western Railway (SWR) Zone have been converted into quarantine centres comprising 2,400 isolation wards to combat noval coronavirus, Union Minister of State Suresh Angadi has said.

"SWR has already achieved the target of turning 313 coaches into isolation wards, which have a 2,400-bed capacity (calculated with eight beds in a coach). In a bid to increase the capacity for isolation facilities, the railways has converted sleeper class coaches into COVID-19 isolation wards," he said in Hubballi on Friday.

Mumbai, Apr 11 (PTI) At least six employees working at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel in south Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus, a doctor attached to a private hospital said on Saturday.

Indian Hotels Company, which runs the Taj Hotel chain, confirmed that some of its employees have been found positive for virus, but did not specify the number.

Aligarh (UP), Apr 12 (PTI) Junior doctors at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital in Aligarh city of Uttar Pradesh has purchased protective gear worth Rs 1 lakh after an acute shortage of vital protective gear for healthcare workers.

"The Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital is one of the frontline medical centres for testing and treating COVID-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh," Shah Nawaz Iqbali, vice president of the resident doctors' association, told reporters on Sunday. "The concern of the medical fraternity here should not be ignored."

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) Police have apprehended eight people and registered a case against them for allegedly gathering at a gurdwara in violation of the lockdown orders in North Delhi's Kotwali on Sunday, officials said.

A police team on patrol duty found that a group of people was performing religious activities at Gurdwara Sisgang at around 2.15 am, they said.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Apr 12 (PTI) A case has been registered in Muzaffarnagar after a man allegedly sheltered three persons who came from outside Uttar Pradesh during the lockdown, police said.

Acting on a complaint by an RSS activist, Shamim, Salman and Waseem were held at the Gandhi Nagar locality on Saturday for staying at the house without informing the police, an officer said.

Ahmedabad, Apr 12 (PTI) In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in Ahmedabad, the city civic body has made it compulsory for people to wear masks from Monday, failing which they would be fined Rs 5,000 or sentenced to three years in jail, an official said.

The order has been issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly disease, Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said on Sunday.

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The nationwide lockdown to contain the deadly coronavirus looks set to be extended by two more weeks till April-end after a consensus emerged among states on Saturday for continuing the curbs amid the tally of confirmed infections crossing 8,000 with a record increase of over 1,000 cases within 24 hours.