India

Chennai, Mar 25 (PTI) The world governing body of chess, FIDE, has postponed the Olympiad, scheduled for August 5-17 in Moscow, to 2021 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global chess body issued a statement saying that the Olympiad and the FIDE Congress, slated to be held in August in Moscow and Khanty-Mansiysk respectively, are rescheduled to the summer of 2021 at the same locations.

Mumbai, Mar 25 (PTI) Acting to curb hoarding of essential items amid rising COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, police raided a godown in the city and seized four lakh masks, valued at Rs one crore, an official said on Wednesday.

The raid was conducted at the Shah Warehousing and Transport Godown in suburban Mumbai, the official said.

Chennai, Mar 25 (PTI) All students from first to ninth standard in Tamil Nadu will be promoted considering the closure of schools to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said here on Wednesday.

Considering the welfare of students, who could not sit for their annual examinations due to closure of schools, Palaniswami said he ordered the School Education Department to announce promotion of all students from first to ninth standard.

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 25 (PTI) A man from West Bengal, who was under observation at an isolation ward for suspected coronavirus infection, fled from the general hospital here on Wednesday morning, police said.

Police have launched a massive manhunt to trace the man, believed to be in his thirties.

Messages have been sent to all police stations about the incident.

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) The updating of the National Population Register (NPR) and the first phase of the Census 2021 have been postponed due to the 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said on Wednesday.

Both the exercises were supposed to be carried out from April 1 to September 30.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The world’s largest democracy went under the world’s biggest lockdown Wednesday, with India’s 1.3 billion people ordered to stay home in a bid to stop the coronavirus pandemic from spreading and overwhelming its fragile health care system as it has done elsewhere.

24 Mar 2020; MEMO: The Philippines and India have refused to receive 340 of their nationals who were convicted of violations and were instructed to be expelled from Kuwait. The two countries insist on obtaining health certificates for each of the nationals confirming that they are free of the coronavirus.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to 7-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

The top court said overcrowding of prisons is a matter of serious concern, particularly in the present context of coronavirus (COVID 19).

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) With the coronavirus pandemic threatening a sharp economic slowdown, experts are suggesting companies to adopt a humane approach in rationalising their expenses without going for across-the-board pay cuts or freezing of hikes to ensure a faster recovery from the slump.

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Expressing concern over the plight of construction workers after the country-wide lockdown over coronavirus, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce emergency measures, including wage support to those in distress.

In a letter to the prime minister, Gandhi said over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a "precarious" future as many of them are stranded in cities and are deprived of livelihood due to the lockdown.