Gaza mosques to reopen after 3-month closure

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Gaza mosques to reopen after 3-month closure

Hamas authorities announced that all mosques in the Gaza Strip will reopen on Wednesday after a three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Abdul Hadi el-Agha, director-general of the Hamas-run Ministry of al-Waqf (Islamic properties) said in a press statement on Monday that all mosques, which have been shut down since March, will reopen for the daily five prayers on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

He called on the worshippers to abide by the personal precautionary measures, mainly wearing facemasks, keep social distancing, and avoid shaking hands.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Health in the West Bank Mai al-Kaila announced that since March 5, the total number of Palestinians infected with COVID-19 has reached 628.

Fresh curfew in Washington D.C. over violent protests

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Fresh curfew in Washington D.C. over violent protests

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced a new curfew as protests over the death of the African-American man George Floyd turned violent not only in the US capital but also cross the nation.

Bowser, who issued an 11 p.m. curfew on Sunday night, said at a news briefing on Monday that journalists covering the demonstrations and other essential personnel are exempted from the new measure which began at 7 p.m., reports Xinhua news agency.

“We want your voices to be heard, but we also want to protect the safety of everyone in our city.”

Describing the violent protests over the last few days as causing “significant damage” to the city’s downtown areas, Bowser said while “every American should be outraged by the murder of George Floyd”, Washingtonians should be “part of the solution, not part of the destruction”.

Incidents of arson, vandalism and clashes between police and protesters took place when demonstrations turned violent Sunday evening in the capital, with graffiti seen on buildings and monuments in the city center and fire flaring up at the Lafayette Square directly north of the White House.

Bowser said the fire near the White House, which rekindled on Monday morning, forcing the closure of nearby streets and firefighters to put the blaze under control, was “intentionally set”, adding “that type of destruction is intolerable”.

Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said at the briefing that 88 people have arrested Sunday night and two-thirds of those charged will face felony counts and that seven police officers were injured but without need for hospitalization.

He added that more arrests may occur as investigators are examining “expansive” video footage.

“We’re prepared for multiple days of demonstrations,” Bowser said.

“We’re working with all of our intelligence to figure out who’s coming here.”

Pleading in vain for his life, Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white policeman, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for minutes.

All four police officers involved have been fired, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Argentinian midfielder Rubens Sambueza leaves Pachuca

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Argentinian midfielder Rubens Sambueza leaves Pachuca

Veteran Argentinian midfielder Rubens Sambueza has parted ways with Mexican side Pachuca amid reports linking him with a return to America.

The 36-year-old made just 18 Liga MX appearances for Los Tuzos, having joined the club from Leon last July, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I will always be grateful to Pachuca for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great institution,” Sambueza said on Instagram.

“Thanks to the club’s employees who made me feel comfortable and kept an eye on me since I arrived. Thanks to my teammates and coaching staff for giving me the confidence to play and enjoy my football.”

The announcement came a month before Sambueza’s contract was due to expire and just 10 days after the Liga MX cancelled its Clausura tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Local media reported that Sambueza is holding talks with America — whom he represented from 2012 to 2016 — ahead of the scheduled start of the Apertura tournament in July.

Sambueza’s 18-year-long professional career has included spells with Argentinian giants River Plate and Brazil’s Flamengo.

Israel approves $85.8 mn to aid tourism

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Israel approves $85.8 mn to aid tourism

The Israeli tourism industry will receive a government aid of 300 million new shekels ($85.8 million) to deal with the coronavirus crisis, the Ministries of Finance and Tourism said.

Minister of Finance Israel Katz and Minister of Tourism Asaf Zamir met on Monday with hoteliers’ representatives to discuss the difficulties the sector has experienced due to the halt in inbound tourism since early March, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the Ministries, hotels are experiencing additional operational difficulties, beyond the general difficulties that all economy sectors suffered since the pandemic, because about half of hotels’ guests are usually tourists.

Thus, the two Ministers agreed on assisting hotels operations, as foreign tourism is not expected to resume in the coming months, and to take other necessary actions to help tourism industry.

Katz said: “Tourism is an integral part of the Israeli economy and is of great importance. The aid is another step in restoring the Israeli economy to routine and growth.”

Zamir added that “tourism is in a serious crisis, and it is our job to act as quickly as possible to get it back on track and assist its rehabilitation”.

Over 200 arrested during protests in Arizona

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Over 200 arrested during protests in Arizona

More than 200 people were arrested during the fourth consecutive night of protests in Phoenix over the death of the unarmed African-American man George Floyd, police in the capital city of Arizona state said.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order on Sunday declaring a statewide curfew lasting from local time 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until June 8, reports Xinhua news agency.

The order prohibits people from “using, standing, sitting, traveling or being present on any public street or in any public place, including for the purpose of travel” with some exceptions.

However, the local ABC15 news channel reported that many protesters remained in the Phoenix Police Department headquarters after the official protest was over and curfew started, holding signs, taking a knee, and chanting outside of the building.

The police then declared unlawful assembly in the area and used tear gas against protesters.

Police on Monday did not give information about property damage from Sunday’s demonstrations but disclosed that more than 200 adults and over 10 minors were arrested, with charges including rioting, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and curfew violation.

Nationwide demonstrators have eruoted since May 25, when Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old man, died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe”, and “please, I can’t breathe”.

Chauvin has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Shama Sikander on battling bipolar disorder, depression

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Shama Sikander on battling bipolar disorder, depression

Shama Sikander has been very vocal about her battle with bipolar disorder and depression. Years after emerging victorious against her struggles, the actress describes the illness as a “pandemic”. She says that she doesn’t have words to describe how painful it was for her every moment over those five years when she often felt she would die.

It was in 2016, when Shama, who rose to fame playing Pooja in the 2004 slice-of-life TV show “Yeh Meri Life Hai”, came out and spoke about her struggles.

“That is the darkest time anybody can ever have. That is like waking up with a pandemic almost every moment and minute of your life. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you are so uncertain. You don’t even have desires at that time. The saddest part is that you don’t have any hope. A desire is something that keeps a human being alive because if we lose all desires then you don’t know the purpose of your life,” Shama told IANS.

“Depression or bipolar are mental situations where you tend to lose hope and desires and that is the darkest space any human being can ever be in,” she said, adding: “I don’t think there is anything sadder than that. It’s the worse a human being can go through and if you survive that you can survive anything, any pandemic.”

“As they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… We all have that strength, some of us just give up before that strength or the revelation of that strength within us comes to us,” said Shama.

Shama calls it her “new birth”, after recovering from the illness: “But maybe I was stronger than I felt I was, and that attitude of mine has brought me back to life and has given me a purpose. There is immense light after darkness. This is a new birth for me.”

“I died for five years every day thinking that I am going to die and I should die, and there is probably nothing for me to look forward to. So, I want to tell people who might feel vulnerable and helpless that you will find the light. You just have to hang in there,” she said.

She says that the reason behind mental illness still being considered a taboo is society’s conditioning. “It is our conditioning problems. We have a lot of do’s and don’ts and sharing your actual life with another person comes in don’ts most of the time. People are so scared,” Shama told IANS.

Shama says not many dare to come out and speak the truth.

“From my childhood, I remember I was very honest. I would reveal whatever I went through in life and was never ashamed of it. People would shame you, they would make you feel bad, ashamed, and guilty for being right because they themselves have been living their lives with all the lies. Not many people have the courage to speak the truth to themselves, forget about others,” she declared.

She went on: “The society is the one which ruins it all. To be a part of a society or a herd you want to just pretend to be like them and obviously being honest means standing alone, and that is scary. People who have problems sharing their problems can end up with mental illness because you’ve suppressed that energy so much that now it is becoming an illness inside you.”

Young state Telangana torchbearer of development: Industry leaders

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Young state Telangana torchbearer of development: Industry leaders

Telangana has become the torchbearer of development in the country, said the industry leaders and representatives from industry bodies on the eve of the state formation day.

They feel that with innovative initiatives and people-friendly schemes in areas such as agriculture, animal husbandry, electricity, industries, infrastructure, the government has set standards for other states to look up to Telangana and follow.

“Despite being India’s youngest state, Telangana’s strides in industrial development and launching friendly initiatives are phenomenal. There is significant growth in the registration of new industrial units in Telangana. The innovative and transparent TS-iPASS initiative has given approvals to more than 11,570 industries. About 80 percent of the companies have started functioning generating more than six lakh jobs,” said Karunendra S Jasti, President, the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI).

He believes that the ease of doing business coupled with excellent infrastructure in the state has attracted some big-ticket investments like IKEA, Amazon, Intel, Micron, phone maker OnePlus, electronics major SkyWorth, and Hitachi Vantara among others.

“Telangana is also witnessing a steady growth of startups. The ecosystem in Hyderabad (T-Hub, We Hub) just gets strengthened by the entry of global co-working space providers like WeWork and with the state working on the second phase of T-Hub to further boost the innovation ecosystem in the city.”

Post Covid-19, the industry is expecting many companies to relocate to Hyderabad and Telangana from China, he added.

V Rajanna, Senior VP, TCS and past Chairman CII, said that Telangana registered stunning performance in the IT sector. The state delivered Rs 1.2 lakh crores in IT exports with an annual growth rate of 18 percent and contributing 12 percent of the nation’s IT exports.

The IT industry has led rapid economic growth in the state contributing one-third of Telangana state exports. The industry employs the largest number of people which is in excess of 5.8 lakh comprising 1.8 lakh women.

“The IT industry in Telangana is providing indirect employment to more than 20 lakh people in the areas of catering, housekeeping, logistics, security and others. The state government initiatives to expand the IT sector into Tier 2 cities like Warangal is an excellent move creating job opportunities in various regions,” he said.

G.V. Prasad, Co-Chairman and MD, Dr. Reddy’s, said that the pharmaceutical industry is an important part of the state of Telangana. “The industry is nurtured well by the government and the ecosystem. The industry is doing very well and the state is the center of innovation globally for APIs and generics,” he said.

According to Bhaskar Reddy, Vice President, FTCCI, Telangana’s projects in irrigation have become the subject of several case studies globally. Through initiatives such as the Kaleshwaram, Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, the state is creating a solid base for enhancing farmer incomes sustainably over the coming decades, while providing a high quality of living for its citizens through excellent facilities for basic services. The state has become a rice bowl for India and fulfilled its dream of bringing in one crore acres under cultivation, he added.

Three more medicos at Hyderabad’s OMC test positive

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Three more medicos at Hyderabad’s OMC test positive

Authorities have decided to conduct the Covid-19 test on all 280 post-graduate medicos of the Osmania Medical College (OMC) in Hyderabad after three more medicos tested positive on Monday.

The fresh cases pushed the total number of medicos testing positive to seven.

OMC officials said that samples from all the PG medicos residing in the hostels on the college campus will be collected and sent for testing.

They said in view of the three more positive cases, they did not want to take chances and hence decided to screen all the medicos.

The college authorities hope to complete the testing in two days. The two hostels have turned into containment zones.

Personnel from the Health Department and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) swung into action to take up the disinfection of hostels.

A woman gynecology PG medico was infected while discharging duties at the Government Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj and other medicos were suspected to have picked up the virus from her. Her roommate was among those tested positive.

All the seven medicos have been admitted to King Koti and Gandhi Hospital for treatment.

Medicos suspect that the virus might have spread in the hostels as they had been interacting with each other while preparing for PG examinations scheduled from June 28.

The Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (TJUDA) has demanded that the examinations be postponed.

FB workers stage virtual walkout over no action on Trump tweet

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FB workers stage virtual walkout over no action on Trump tweet

Several Facebook employees on Monday staged a “virtual walkout” in protest at the social networking giant’s policies regarding a recent controversial post by President Donald Trump on its platform.

The employees took to Twitter, publicly announcing their solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter protests that have seized the nation since the death of African-American George Floyd by a white police officer on May 25.

“Today I am participating in a virtual walkout over Facebook’s recent decisions not to moderate posts that we believe violate our platform standards,” posted one Facebook employee.

Another employee tweeted: “As allies we must stand in the way of danger, not behind. I will be participating in today’s virtual walkout in solidarity with the black community inside and outside FB.”

Several Facebook employees have come out in the open to protest the social media giant’s stand on not taking action on a controversial post from Trump about the Minnesota protests.

“I believe Trump’s ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ tweet (cross-posted to FB), encourages extra-judicial violence and stokes racism. Respect to @Twitter’s integrity team for making the enforcement call,” David Gillis, Director, Product Design at Facebook, said in a tweet on Sunday.

While Twitter last week put out a “public interest notice” on the tweet for violating the platform’s policies about glorifying violence, Facebook refused to take action when the tweet was cross-posted to its platform.

Defending the decision to not take action on the controversial posts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said that its “policy around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force”.

“We looked very closely at the post that discussed the protests in Minnesota to evaluate whether it violated our policies,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“Our policy around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force, although I think today’s situation raises important questions about what potential limits of that discussion should be,” he said.

“Unlike Twitter, we do not have a policy of putting a warning in front of posts that may incite violence because we believe that if a post incites violence, it should be removed regardless of whether it is newsworthy, even if it comes from a politician,” Zuckerberg added.

In a series of tweets, Gillis argued that policy “needs to evolve” and take more context into account.

“While I understand why we chose to stay squarely within the four corners of our violence and incitement policy, I think it would have been right for us to make a ‘spirit of the policy’ exception that took more context into account,” he said.

“At any rate, when we have to vigorously debate whether to make an exception to the way we interpret and enforce a given policy (as happened on Friday), this often indicates that said policy needs to evolve. I think that is the case here,” he said.

Another Facebook employee tweeted that he was not proud of how Facebook reacted.

“I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we’re showing up. The majority of coworkers I’ve spoken to feel the same way. We are making our voice heard,” said Jason Toff, Director of Product Management at Facebook.

Pakistan violates ceasefire on LoC in J&K’s Poonch district

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Pakistan violates ceasefire on LoC in J&K’s Poonch district

On a day the Indian Army killed three terrorists while foiling an infiltration bid on the Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in J&K’s Poonch district on Monday.

Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Devender Anand said, “At about 8.30 p.m. today, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along the LoC in Mankote sector of Poonch district. Indian army is retaliating befittingly.

Earlier on Monday, three terrorists were killed in Naushera sector of the LoC where the army foiled a major infiltration bid.

The operation in the Naushera sector is still going on, reports said.

Five die in Andhra after consuming surgical spirit

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Five die in Andhra after consuming surgical spirit

Five people died after they consumed the surgical spirit for intoxication at a party in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district.

A group of friends consumed the spirit at a party thrown by one of them in Kasimkota village of the district late Saturday, police said.

While three people died on Sunday, two others succumbed to King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

P. Dorababu (48) and Vadlapudi Manikyam, (68) died on Monday. Sathibabu and Satyarao are undergoing treatment in the same hospital.

Police said P. Anand, who was working in a pharmaceutical company in Parawada, had brought the surgical spirit and threw a party for his friends. Believing that the spirit will give them extra intoxication, they all consumed it.

After the party, they went home but a couple of hours later suffered complications. Anand (55) and Nookaraju (65) died in their houses while Appa Rao (50) succumbed to KGH on Sunday.

Two of the deceased were auto drivers, the third one was a lorry cleaner while the fourth one was a daily wage earner.

“We have registered a case and taken up investigations,” a police official at Kasimkota police station said.

RIL rights issue oversubscribed 1.1 times with two days to go

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RIL rights issue oversubscribed 1.1 times with two days to go

The RIL rights issue has got oversubscribed 1.1 times with two more days to go.

India’s largest-ever fundraising initiative – RIL’s Rs 53,124 crore rights Issue — received a resounding response from all its shareholders, as it got oversubscribed 1.1 times on Monday, with two more days to go.

The issue subscription data on stock exchanges showed that at 5 p.m. on Monday, the total bids received for RIL’s rights shares stood at 46.04 crores, overshooting the 42.26 crore shares on offer by 8.9 percent.

The BSE has received applications for 44.85 crore rights shares while the NSE has received applications for 0.57 crore rights shares. The non-ASBA bid quantity stands at 0.62 crore rights shares.

The oversubscription figure indicates that shareholders are applying for many more shares than their entitlements. The issue still has two more days to go and it is a well-observed phenomenon that in such issues with assured allotment, institutional investors invest only in the last few days. This means, the final oversubscription number will rise to an even higher level.

Reliance Industries enjoys the support of a very large number of retail shareholders at over 25.4 lakh. Over 1,700 institutional investors — domestic as well as foreign — are invested in the company.

The significantly strong subscription numbers show the high level of confidence every category of shareholders has in the company’s future and the promoters’ commitment to creating value for them even in times of COVID 19 outbreaks.

The oversubscription numbers of RIL’s rights issues are markedly better than other comparable issues of the recent past.

Reports suggest that Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s rights issues in April-May 2019 were oversubscribed by 5 percent to 8 percent. Each one was less than half the size of RIL’s rights issue.

Earlier, Reliance Industries created a whole new trading instrument in the form of REs which had premium valuation, liquidity and interest engaging quality investors. The REs never traded at below intrinsic level during the renunciation period, which is a milestone in Indian capital markets.

It has been observed that right entitlements (REs) traded at an average 43 percent discount to intrinsic value in similar issues of the recent past.

RIL-REs had created a value of Rs 9,500 crore for the company’s shareholders when online trading ended last Friday.

RIL’s first rights issue in three decades is set to close on Wednesday. The company has come out with a rights issue in 1:15 ratio to enable all shareholders to participate in its growth of consumer/technology businesses, where new strategic investors have started joining.

To keep the issue most investor-friendly, the rights issue price of Rs 1,257 is to be paid over 18 months in three installments – 25 percent on application by June 3, 25 percent in May 2021, and 50 percent in November 2021.

Delhi DMs asked to identify additional land for cremation, burial

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Delhi DMs asked to identify additional land for cremation, burial

The various District Magistrates in the national capital on Monday were asked to identify lands for cremation or burial grounds, which are reasonably away from the residential areas.

In a letter to all the District Magistrates of Delhi, Rajesh Goyal, Additional CEO, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) demanded a report on the same by 4 p.m. on June 3.

The letter asked the DMs to identify places, spaces for creating additional capacity for patient beds as well as additional land for cremation and burial grounds.

“As you are aware that in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 patients in Delhi, it is imperative to plan in advance for enhancing the capacity of patient beds and also to identify additional cremation and burial grounds,” the letter reads.

It asked the DMs to identify and provide the information on top priority.

“Indoor air-conditioned locations, preferably large multipurpose halls, banquet halls, and indoor stadiums etc. for putting up extra beds for Covid-19 patients along with the capacity of each such location,” it said.

It also demanded the present locations of cremation and burial grounds as well as “additionally identified locations or lands for cremation and burial grounds which are reasonably away from the residential areas”.

As of date, Delhi has reported 523 COVID deaths since the outbreak of the infection. Also the cases count has crossed 20,000 mark, with 11,565 of them active cases.

Too busy, no time for dissidence, says Yediyurappa

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Too busy, no time for dissidence, says Yediyurappa

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Monday downplayed reports of dissidence in the ruling party, saying he was “too busy with work”.

“I am busy with development works of the state and fighting COVID, that’s why I have decided not to bother about such developments,” said Yediyurappa on the sidelines of an event to mark the first anniversary of Narendra Modi government at the center, through a press conference.

He also clarified that he will not even issue a statement about the same.

Yediyurappa’s downplaying dissidence assumes significance following some north Karnataka MLAs meeting over dinner and reportedly discussing about exerting pressure on him for posts.

Among the leaders who met over dinner included Umesh V. Katti, Chitradurga MLA G. H. Thippareddy, and Vijayapura MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal.

Meanwhile, the chief minister heaped praise on Modi for completing a year in office in his second term as Prime Minister.

Yediyurappa listed several actions Modi took in the last one year such as terminating the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, banning triple talaq, amending the citizenship act, the Ayushman Bharat scheme and several others as achievements.

Maharashtra Covid-19 cases cross 70K with 76 more deaths

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Maharashtra Covid-19 cases cross 70K with 76 more deaths

The number of Covid-19 cases shot above the 70,000-mark in Maharashtra on Monday even as the state notched a fresh death toll of 76, down by 40 from the highest 116 deaths recorded on May 29, health officials said.

In a major development, Thane district with 9,941 cases has become the second worst-hit in the state, overtaking Pune district’s tally of 8,045 cases.

Monday’s toll includes a whopping 60 deaths in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone — the worst-hit in the country. The state reported 2,361 new cases on Monday.

This comes to roughly one death every 19 minutes, and an average 98 new cases notched every hour in the state.

Maharashtra has been recording 75-plus fatalities and over 2K new patients daily for the past one week, with the previous highest figures of 3,041 infections notched on May 24.

With 76 fatalities, the state’s death toll has touched 2,362 while the total number of coronavirus patients increased from Sunday’s 67,655 to 70,013 on Monday.

The health department said that of the total number of cases declared till date, 37,534 were ‘active cases’, increasing by 1,503 over Sunday’s 36,031.

The state recorded a recovery rate of 43 per cent while the mortality (death) rate remained unchanged at 3.37 per cent.

In the past three months, the state has built an impressive rate of recoveries from March 31 (12.91 per cent) to April 30 (16.88 per cent) to May 31 (43.35 per cent).

Of the total 76 fatalities on Monday, 40 were recorded in Mumbai alone, taking the city’s death toll up from Sunday’s 1,279 to 1,319 now, while the number of Covid-19 positive patients here shot up by 1,413 cases to touch 41,099.

Besides Mumbai’s 40 deaths, there were 15 fatalities in Thane (Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Mira-Bhayander), 9 in Pune, 3 each in Palghar and Aurangabad, 2 in Raigad, and one each in Nashik, Jalna, Beed and Nagpur.

The victims comprised 45 men and 37 women, and nearly 67 per cent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.

On the positive side, a total of 779 fully cured patients returned home on Sunday, taking the number of those discharged to 30,108.

In an important measure, the state government has set up a special 200-bed hospital with oxygen supply to all the beds in Mumbai’s top hotspot Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, which will be operational from Tuesday, state Home Minister Rajesh Tope said.

The hospital — with 10 doctors, 15 nurses, other support staff, CCTV coverage, thermal sensors and other amenities — was set up in just two weeks, said Brihanmumbai Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal.

The MMR (Thane Division) continued to cause grave concerns for the authorities with 1,608 deaths and 53,259 positive cases.

Though trailing a distant third after Mumbai, Pune Division’s fatalities touched 424, besides 9,505 positive cases.

The next major area of concern is Nashik Division with 164 deaths and 2,178 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad Division with 70 fatalities and 1,925 cases, and Akola Division with 48 deaths and 1,036 cases.

There’s also Latur Division with 11 deaths and 371 cases, Kolhapur Division with 10 deaths and 918 patients, and Nagpur Division with 12 deaths and 761 cases.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home quarantine increased from Sunday’s 558,100 to 567,552 on Monday, while those in institutional quarantine increased by 1,709 to 34,480.

In another bit of relieving news, as many as 72,704 beds are currently available for quarantine in the state.

The state’s containment zones increased from 3,157 to 3,294 on Monday while 18,674 health teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 70.6 lakh in the state.

Liquor shops in Delhi to operate daily till 8 p.m.

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Liquor shops in Delhi to operate daily till 8 p.m.

All government and private liquor shops, which were allowed to operate so far in Delhi, will be allowed to open all days a week, except dry days, between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., the Excise Department said on Monday.

An Excise Department official told IANS that an order has been issued which says all the shops having L-6 and L-8 licenses are allowed to function all day between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.

While L-6 is for the government-run retail vends of Indian liquor, L-8 is for the retail vends of country liquor.

For the private shops, the order, a copy of which is with IANS, said only those which were allowed to operate on an odd-even basis after May 19 will be allowed all day and the timing has been changed from 9.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. to between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. now.

Total 76 private liquor shops were allowed after May 19, the official added.

There are about 850 liquor shops in Delhi. However, close to 150 shops, which were in malls across the city, will continue to remain shut, the official said.

While the rules for timing have been changed, the other directives remain the same, the official added.

“They will deposit 70 percent Special Corona Fee on total sales daily, which will be deducted from their ledger account linked with their Vend-ID in ESCIMS. They should, therefore, maintain the requisite balance in their ledger account,” the official told IANS.

“In case of any un-scanned sale, the MSR Gap generated shall be treated as the stock sold and 70 percent Special Corona Fee shall be levied and payable on the same,” it added.

The Excise Department asked the shop owners to strictly comply with the National Directives for Covid-19 Management and to take all possible measures including deployment of an adequate number of guards, proper barricading, marking to ensure social distancing, etc. in coordination with Delhi Police and local administration.

It also said in case the shops allowed to operate comes under the containment zone in the future, the same shall be closed immediately.

From May 4, the standalone liquor shops were allowed in the city, while from May 19, even those in the market places were allowed on alternate days. On May 5, the government imposed the ‘Special Corona Fee’, which was 70 percent of the MRP. Till May 25, the government has earned Rs 127 crore as the special corona fee.

The Delhi government on Monday allowed all the shops to operate even in markets without any odd-even system.

25 new containment zones formed in Delhi, total now 147

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25 new containment zones formed in Delhi, total now 147

The total number of the containment zones in the national capital jumped to 147 on Monday with 25 new formed in the last 48 hours, the Delhi government said.

Among all the districts, the highest number — 29 each — are from South-West and North districts.

The South East district has 17 containment zones while the South district has 10 zones. Among those having the least zones is the North-East district with four containment zones. Five containment zones are there in the East district.

The New Delhi district has nine zones, and the North-West district has 14 containment zones.

The Central district has seven zones and the North East district has four zones while Shahdara district has eight zones. So far, total 57 zones have been de-contained, as per the data shared by the Delhi government on Monday — highest 12 from the West district.

Covid cases in the national capital crossed the 20,000 mark on Monday.

Finally, Odisha govt decides to purchase PPE kits

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Finally, Odisha govt decides to purchase PPE kits

Finally, the Odisha government has agreed to accept the PPE kits of various suppliers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several trucks carrying the personal protective equipment (PPE) kits of various suppliers are standing outside the Odisha State Medical Corporation Ltd (OSMCL) in Bhubaneswar since past several days as it had refused to accept the kits.

The procurement committee, which met on Monday, decided to purchase the PPE kits from the suppliers. The PPE kits that have already arrived will be accepted, said an official.

The official said that the OSMCL has already procured 8.63 lakh PPE kits, which will be sent to various districts.

IANS was first to report that OSMCL is not accepting the delivery orders from various MSME suppliers.

OSMCL had floated a tender inviting for procurement of the kits. The initial deadline was the month of July. However, it has been abruptly ended in May. It informed the suppliers that it would not accept delivery after May 26.

The government’s plea was that it has enough stock of PPE kits.

Tata Power takes over management of CESU in Odisha

Telugu Bullet
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Tata Power takes over management of CESU in Odisha

Tata Power on Monday announced that it has taken over the management of Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) of Odisha.

It received the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles consisting of Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Puri, Paradip and Dhenkanal.

As per order issued by OERC, Tata Power will hold 51 per cent equity with management control and the state-owned GRIDCO will have the remaining 49 per cent equity stake in the company, said a statement.

Tata Power has committed to improve and modernise the distribution system in the five circles.

The priority of the company is to improve reliability, reduce T&C losses and offer excellent customer service, it said.

As per the agreement, the company will retain all the existing employees of CESU and will govern them by their existing policy structure.

Praveer Sinha, Tata Power CEO and MD said, “Our tie up with CESU is a huge development for Tata Power. We are thankful to the Odisha government and OERC for giving us this opportunity. We are committed to provide reliable, affordable and quality power supply along with superior customer service, backed by innovative technology.”

“We constantly strive to become the most preferred distribution company in the country. The success of our Delhi, Mumbai and Ajmer distribution businesses are testament to this fact,” Sinha said.

“Tata Power endeavours to bring about a positive transformation in Odisha by deploying smart grid technologies to supply reliable and quality power. Our customer-centric approach aims to enhance all aspects of customer services with smooth and efficient power distribution operations,” said Sanjay Banga, President – T &D, Tata Power.

Tata Power has received a licence for 25 years.

Spread over 30,000 sq km, CESU has five electrical circles comprising of the areas of Bhubaneswar (Electrical Circle – I and II), Cuttack, Paradip, Puri and Dhenkanal with a population of over 1.4 crore and consumer base of 2.5 million.

Repayment date for short term agri loans extended to Aug 31

Telugu Bullet
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Repayment date for short term agri loans extended to Aug 31

Extending relief to the farmers amid the difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved the extension of repayment date for short term loans for agriculture and allied activities by banks which have become due or will become due between March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020.

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday gave its approval to extend repayment date upto August 31 for standard short-term loans upto Rs 3 lakh advanced for agriculture and allied activities by banks, which have become due or shall become due in this period with continued benefit of 2 percent Interest Subvention (IS) to banks and 3 percent Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) to farmers.

This decision will help the farmers to repay/renew such loans upto the extended repayment date of August 31 at 4 percent annually, interest without attracting any penalty and thus help them in avoiding travelling to banks for such renewal during this pandemic period, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a media briefing on the cabinet decisions.

The government provides concessional Standard Short-Term Agri-loans to farmers through banks with 2 percent p.a, interest subvention to banks and 3 percent additional benefit on timely repayment to farmers thus providing loans upto Rs 3 lakh at 4 p.a. interest on timely repayment.

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