There have been mixed spectrum of opinions, speculations, analysis and aggression among Indians for the unimaginable growth in coronavirus cases in spite of four-phased lockdowns. In a single day, 8,392 new cases have been reported across the nation and India is on the 7th place, crossing France (1,89,220) as well.

With more than 1,90,000 positive cases, the Indian government had to take the blame for failing to curb the spread of the novel virus from various sections. The sudden lockdown of 1.3 billion Indians ever since March seems like no use with cases skyrocketing no matter what.

Now, with the public transports being open, experts believe that India might even jump above 7th place in the world, leading to community transmission as well. Moreover, the visuals at railway stations have already shown how dangerous the situation might get with people rushing in the wee hours.

The Indian Public Health Association, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and the Indian Association of Epidemiologists said in a joint statement – “Had the migrant persons been allowed to go home at the beginning of the epidemic when the disease spread was very low, the current situation could have been avoided”. This is because, migrants would possibly take infection to rural and semi-urban areas, leading to more havoc.

AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was supposed to fly to New Delhi this morning but it was called off in the last minute. Jagan had appointments of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekawat on Tuesday.

A special chartered flight was also arranged for Jagan to fly to Delhi. But in the last minute, the CMO officials informed that CM Jagan will not be flying to Delhi today. However, the CMO officials did not reveal the reasons behind cancelling the tour and are also yet to update on the re-schedule of the tour.

Jagan in his Delhi tour was supposed to discuss about the state’s financial status with Home Minister Amit Shah and might request more funds from the Centre. Regarding the meeting with Jal Shankti minister, Jagan was expected seek funds for Polavaram and other irrigation projects.

Following the shocking defeat in the 2019 general elections, the TDP’s political reputation has taken a massive beating. In this scenario, all eyes are on the political debut of Nara Brahmani, Balakrishna’s daughter and Chandrababu Naidu’s daughter-in-law.

Until recently, speculations were in full swing that Brahmani will be joining active politics in a mission to revive the TDP. The Nandamuri-Nara scion’s success as an entrepreneur added fuel to the rumours of her political entry.

But Balakrishna has ended all the rumours on Brahmani’s political future. In a first major interview in recent times, Balayya clarified that Brahmani will not enter politics and that she doesn’t even have a keen interest in politics.

“Brahmani even hates any discussion on politics. She will not enter politics as of now. However, nobody knows what’s in store in the future,” Balayya said, further adding that he and his sons-in-law Lokesh and Sree Bharat meet over the weekends and even then they don’t discuss politics at all with Brahmani around.

Actor-politician Manoj Tiwari has been replaced as chief of the BJP in Delhi. Adesh Kumar Gupta will take over, the ruling party said today.Adesh Gupta, a former North Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor, is everything that Manoj Tiwari was not – a low profile, old hand of the party in the capital. Many interpret his appointment as a sign that the BJP is once again looking for its core support group in the capital — the Vaishya community.

Manoj Tiwari, who was appointed Delhi BJP president in 2016, was said to be on borrowed time since the party’s disastrous performance in the Delhi assembly election in February.Sources say he had offered to resign immediately after the Delhi defeat but was asked to continue until an alternative was found.

The BJP called it a routine move and also announced changes in other states — Vishnu Deo Sai has been appointed chief in Chhattisgarh and S Tikendra Singh in Manipur.”I can only say that I will fulfill my responsibility with honesty and dedication,” Adesh Gupta told NDTV.

“In Delhi, we need to work on the ground level. We need to reach more people and create a more all-embracing organisation, so that we can enhance our voter base,” he added.Mr Tiwari, a Bhojpuri singing star-turned-politician, was always perceived as an “outsider” in the faction-driven Delhi BJP and was seen to have been unable to effectively counter the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) despite his street-fighting skills and non-stop sparring.

A mobile application has been launched to help COVID-19 patients in Delhi track hospital beds and ventilators, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this afternoon. The app – “Delhi Corona” – comes amid a worrying spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital, which has logged over 20,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

“The cases are on a rise… but we need not panic. We have made sufficient arrangements. We are launching an app today which will give everyone the status of hospital beds and ventilator availability in Delhi,” the Chief Minister said during a video conference. The app is available on Google Play and all the information can also be accessed on the website – delhifightscorona.in/beds. It will be updated twice a day – at 10 am and at 6 pm.

Delhi is third on the list of worst-affected states after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The total number of the containment zones jumped to 147 on Monday with 25 new zones formed in the last 48 hours.

Warning the hospitals yet again against denying beds to the COVID-19 patients, Mr Kejriwal today announced a helpline number – 1031- which can also be used to get status of the COVID-19 beds in Delhi.

“If you go to a hospital and you see that they are denying you a bed, please call on the helpline number – 1031. You will be connected straight to the office of the health secretary and they will assist you,” he said.

Coronavirus triggered a crisis in several countries across the world due to lack of proper health infrastructure, Mr Kejriwal said today, repeating the assertion that his government is “four steps ahead” of the highly infectious illness.

“That being said, I say this again – that not every COVID-19 patient needs a bed. Delhi recorded more than 20,000 cases, but only around 2,600 are in hospitals currently; around 6,000-7000 are recuperating at their homes. If a doctor tells you that you illness is not severe, please listen to him. Those recovering at their homes will be helped by our special teams,” he said.

The national capital on Monday sealed its borders, including those with Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and Ghaziabad and Haryana’s Gurgaon, for a week, in order to give hospitals in the city time to come to grips with the coronavirus crisis.

Former MP and Telangana Jagruthi President Kalvakuntla Kavitha comes forward to provide financial help with a tribal student who secured a seat in the prestigious IIM. K Mahesh, son of an agricultural labourer, studied mass communication from Osmania and managed to get a seat in IIM Ranchi.

Mahesh appealed via Twitter to Former MP to help him financially to pay his admission fee.  Kalvakuntla Kavitha lends a helping hand to Dubai returnee It was almost inconceivable for Mahesh, a native of Kalwakurthi, to secure a seat in the prestigious Institute but the youngster did the unthinkable and got in.

However, his parents, who work as agricultural labourers, were not able to afford the Rs 1 lakh fee, due to the family’s poor financial condition. While Mahesh and his family were overjoyed that he managed to get a seat, their financial status, however, put them in a tough spot, as they had no means to pay the college admission fee.

It was then that Mahesh sought help from former TRS MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha and approached her on Twitter. The ex-MP immediately responded to Mahesh’s tweet and decided to extend financial support to him.

Mahesh and family members, who are now happy that the youngster will study in a prestigious institution, thanked Kavitha for immediately responding and providing financial support to pay an admission fee. Former MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha congratulated Mahesh on his achievement and extended best wishes to him.

The special cell of the Delhi Police arrested two men for smuggling drugs worth Rs 12 crore from Jharkhand to Punjab and Delhi amid the nation-wide lockdown.
The accused were using an e-pass to cross the borders under the garb of transporting migrant workers, the police said.

A nation-wide lockdown has been in force since March 25 to tackle the spread of coronavirus and travellers are required to get an e-pass with a valid reason to cross state borders.

Divisional Commissioner of Police of the special cell Pramod Kushwaha said an official received a tip-off about two people who were trying to supply drugs to Punjab and Delhi and were about to reach Burari Chowk in the national capital in a car on Friday.

The police then intercepted the vehicle and seized around 12 kg of opium worth Rs 2 crore hidden in the car. They also arrested the two accused, identified as Shaan Masih and Chetan Patiyaal — both residents of Hoshiyarpur in Punjab.

The police said the accused revealed that they got the e-pass to cross the borders amid the lockdown in the name of transporting labourers to Jharkhand from the sub-divisional magistrate of Hoshiyarpur. They managed to travel on a single e-pass to Jharkhand thrice.

The accused also confessed, saying that they had transported around 50 kg of drugs worth Rs 12 crore from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh.

They men named one Gurmeet Singh from Punjab as the mastermind behind the smuggling and said he is running a big drug racket.

The police said they have started investigations and are trying to find out how the accused managed to get hold of the e-pass.

The Delhi government has sought financial assistance from the Centre to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore to pay salaries to its employees. In a tweet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “I request the Central government to help the people of Delhi in this time of trouble”.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said he has requested for the Rs 5,000 crore assistance as Delhi did not get anything from the disaster relief fund that was given to other states.

Delhi needs Rs 3,500 crore a month to pay its employees’ salaries and meet other needs.”However, in the past two months, our GST collection has been only Rs 500 crore each month. We need at least Rs 7,000 crore to be able to pay salaries to our employees many of whom are discharging frontline duties against the coronavirus epidemic,” he told the media in a virtual press conference.

Mr Kejriwal had earlier made it clear that Delhi is strapped for revenue — a reason why had also advocated the opening of the economy. In early May, before the lockdown4 was announced, he said Delhi was “ready to lift the lockdown”.

In line with the Central guidelines, the national capital has announced several relaxations, especially in the areas that have not seen any coronavirus cases. The number of containment areas in Delhi, though, is huge. The sprawling city has more than 120 containment zones.

The number of coronavirus cases Delhi crossed the 18,000-mark on Saturday, as the city recorded the biggest single-day jump in cases  1,163.

A senior Railways officer in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad has been suspended after he was caught on camera throwing biscuits at some migrants – passengers of a Shramik special train – along with his team members and shouting expletives at them.

The three-minute clip, shot on Monday, shows some Railways employees distributing packets of biscuits at a station in west UP’s Firozabad, about 300 km from state capital Lucknow.

DK Dixit, the chief inspector of ticket, is seen leading the team. The officials can be seen throwing biscuits at the passengers of a Shramik special train, shouting abuses and mocking the migrants.

One of the employees is heard saying: “The biscuits are being distributed because it’s Mr Dikshit’s birthday”.

When some passengers ask for biscuit packets, they are told: “Abhi to diya. Baant ke khao (We just gave one. Share and eat):”

This video was shared on one of the local Railways officers’ WhatsApp group and then made its way to social media.

“Strict disciplinary action has been taken again these railway employees including the suspension of the CIT DK Dixit,” the Railways tweeted as the clip sparked outrage.

Visuals from across the country have captured the desperation and misery of migrants trying to return their homes after they were stranded n March without jobs, food and money due to coronavirus lockdown. While special trains were started for them earlier this month, many of them have complained of a lack of proper facilities on these trains.

Last week, some passengers in Delhi were seen fighting for food and water.

On Friday, the Supreme Court told center to devise a uniform policy for their travel as it grilled the government over the handling of the crisis.

YS Jagan government’s one-year rule has been the topic all over with success-failure ratio analysis, criticism, and mixed reactions. Not just the voting public, but the major political parties expressed their experience in the one-year rule of Jagan in the state of Andhra Pradesh, except the Janasena party. The Janasena chose to ‘praise’ BJP’s one -year rule than to ‘criticize’ YSRC’s one-year rule, though he can do both.

Pawan Kalyan who used to respond on a burning issue after a week since it happens is very much active on social media these days chanting the names of bigwigs, veterans, and founders of BJP, more than revealing his stand on issues in the state. Obviously, he tweeted praises during commemorating BJP’s one-year completion in rule with some strong extolling words about PM Narendra Modi.

The question here is why is Pawan Kalyan not interested in putting his or his party’s (read Janasena not BJP) opinion on YSRC’s one-year rule in the state of Andhra Pradesh? While the BJP gave some shoutouts about Jagan’s policies in the last one year rule along with some negative feedback, it was a mixed one after all. On the other side, Chandrababu launched a detailed critique with hashtag #1YearOfMassDestruction, but not a word on it from Pawan Kalyan.

A year that saw historic and landmark decisions in the country; And now our ‘Bharath’ shall soon become a Self-Reliant Nation. The 21st century shall truly belong to ‘India ‘ under the visionary and courageous leadership of Hon. PM Sri @narendramodi ji

Pawan Kalyan had been the obvious critic against Jagan’s rule since the beginning. Being in the opposition won’t let him praise the latter’s rule, but he could have done the usual criticism which he did not, surprisingly. Is it because the state BJP already released some positive statements and Pawan Kalyan’s just did not want to contradict and condemn them or is it because the high command ordered him to ignore the topic for the now Or Is it because he is afraid to criticize Jagan’s rule.

Well, these questions won’t be finding any answers for now. Maybe, the Janasena leader must have preferred to praise the BJP on the first anniversary than to lash out at YSRC on the same occasion. Though Pawan Kalyan did not want to release a progress note for Jagan’s one-year rule, the YSRC fans are not leaving this chance to commemorate Pawan Kalyan’s disastrous defeat at Bhimavaram and Visakhapatnam, with a flood of memes and jokes.

About a year back exactly on the same date, Narendra Modi sworn in as Prime Minister of India for the second time. In this last 12 months, Modi 2.0 has taken many bold decisions such as abolishing triple talaq and Article 370 to Jammu & Kashmir.

There is a mixed feedback on the performance of NDA government. But Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan assessed that Modi’s 2.0 has done remarkably well in the last one year. He took to his Twitter and showered compliments on PM Modi and his government.

“A year that saw historic and landmark decisions in the country; And now our ‘Bharath’ shall soon become a Self-Reliant Nation. The 21st century shall truly belong to ‘India’ under the visionary and courageous leadership of Hon. PM Sri narendramodi ji My Hearty Congratulations!! To everyone in the govt for 1 year of bold and successful reforms. Jai Hind!,” tweeted Pawan Kalyan.

A year that saw historic and landmark decisions in the country; And now our ‘Bharath’ shall soon become a Self-Reliant Nation. Pawan’s praise can be understood here as Jana Sena and BJP are allies now. But if we go back in time, Pawan was the one who started the fight against BJP and Modi in the ‘Special Category Status’ to Andhra Pradesh.

‘Pachipooyina (spoiled and bitter) Laddus’ was the comment made by Pawan when Modi government changed the ‘Special Status’ to ‘Special Package.’ The ‘Special Status’ issue is almost closed now and seems Pawan too forgot about it.

Telangana CM KCR has inaugurated the Kondapochamma Sagar reservoir at the Markook pump house under his assembly constituency Gajwel on Friday. This inauguration ceremony was also graced by Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swami. As the water got pumped into the reservoir, KCR along with his wife offered traditional prayers and flowers.

After this, KCR addressed the media and added the true essence of Telangana formation i.e, in providing water to the region is fulfilled. Then KCR made a statement that is being highlighted a lot. “In another week or so, we are going to announce big news. This is going to be great news for Telangana farmers,” said KCR.

Adding more about it, the Telangana CM said, no government has ever made such announcement for farmers neither in India nor in world. “Just wait for a few more days and I will reveal everything,” said KCR.

This led to a huge anticipating among Telangana farmers so as what could it be? Interestingly KCR used the word ‘financially’ in his statements and this sparked a debate.

Is it a special budget that the Telangana government is going to come up for farmers and agriculture sector in the state? Seems like even TRS leaders have no clue about it and so it is all in KCR’s head to break the suspense.

Ever since YS Jagan was in Opposition, he has been accused of “not listening” to his party’s senior leaders, fellow colleagues in party. The constant complaint on Jagan is that he would never pay heed to others. In fact, leaders who had quit YSRCP has made these accusations against Jagan and his political arch rivals of TDP too spearheaded a campaign against Jagan’s attitude projecting him as “head-strong”.

Even after he became CM, he has been leveled with similar accusations from Opposition TDP netas. Some of his bete noires even went to the extent of alleging that Jagan “won’t even listen” to courts. Be it the issue of shifting capital from Amaravati where the capital is trifurcated into Executive Capital, Legislative Capital and Legal Capital or the issues like reverse tendering in Polavaram project or renegotiation of Power Purchase Agreements, CM Jagan has been accused of being “adamant”, “firm”, “close-minded” and “inflexible”.

However, these accusations and painting Jagan as “Evvari Mata Vinadu” is vanishing into thin air. In the latest episode of TTD board’s decision to auction its 50 of its immovable properties which the board had felt as “not useful, unviable and prone to encroachment”, CM Jagan said to have advised the TTD chairman and his uncle YV Subba Reddy to reverse the board’s decision considering the huge uproar among people and the sentiments of Hindus that were raising high.

The TTD board council has passed a new resolution imposing ban on sale/auction of TTD’s assets including immovable properties. This is following CM YS Jagan’s directions to TTD Chairman and his team after public mood and sentiment is against the previous decision of board to sell a few of its properties and monetise them.

Also a committee will be constituted to protect the properties from “encroachment”. The committe would constitute Dharmakarthas and Swamijis and devotees of Lord Balaji. The meeting of the TTD board council for the first time conducted through a video conference owing to Covid-19 guidelines and imposed lockdown.

Meanwhile, TTD board is very serious over the spread of false news against the board and its decisions. The board is of the feeling that a section of media wantedly created fears among people and Balaji’s devotees and thus responsible for creating “disbelief” on TTD board among people. The TTD board has decided to act strict against those who had spread false rumours. Also, an inquiry into this has been requested by the TDD board. The TTD board has appealed to AP state government to look into the whole issue. TTD board had totally defended itself and clarified that it hadn’t tried to sell the assets.

Nagari MLA and APIIC chairman Roja hit back at TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh who made critical comments against YSRCP government on its one year completition.

Reacting to Naidu and Lokesh’s comments, Roja said, “When TDP was thrown out of government by people of AP, the state’s treasury had just Rs 100 crore while Chandrababu and co made Rs 3.5 Lakh crore debts. Despite making lakhs of crore of debts, there was no sign of development.”

On the accomplishments of Jagan government, Roja said, “In just one year, YSRCP government had spent over Rs 40,000 crore on the welfare of poor and about 3.5 crore people got the benefits of the government. Not just this, another 27 lakh people are given land documents and Jagan government will support them in constructing their own homes.”

On the criticism, Roja said because there is zero corruption in the state now, Chandrababu and Lokesh are also not getting any money. “The corrupt money is not reaching father and son and that’s why we can see them losing weight,” added Roja in satire.

Further the YCP firebrand leader said very soon the state will come up with new industrial policy and on the liquor policy, Roja faulted TDP leaders of encouraging people to get used to alcohol whereas YCP is stuck to its words to ban liquor in phase wise manner.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday formally launched a facility for instant allotment of PAN or Permanent Account Number on a near-to-real-time basis. The move was in line with the announcement made in the Union Budget.

The facility is now available for PAN applicants possessing a valid Aadhaar number and having a mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

The allotment process is paperless, and an electronic PAN (e-PAN) is issued to the applicants free of cost, as part of the facility.

The launch of the instant PAN facility is yet another step by the Income Tax Department towards Digital India, thereby creating further ease of compliance to the taxpayers, according to an official statement.

As of May 25, a total of 50.52 crore PANs have been allotted to the taxpayers, of which about 49.39 crore are allotted to the individuals and more than 32.17 crore are seeded with Aadhaar so far.