Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
CMYK
A ND-NDE
wednesday, march 25, 2020 Delhi
City Edition
18 pages O ₹��10.00
Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna
follow us:
thehindu.com
facebook.com/thehindu
twitter.com/the_hindu
Madhya Pradesh CM
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
passes fl��oor test
page 12
AntiCAA protesters
removed from Shaheen
Bagh, other places
page 12
Bangladesh says it will
release jailed former
PM Khaleda Zia
page 15
Albert Uderzo, a creator
of French hero Asterix,
dies at 92
page 15
OPPORTUNITIES A PAGE 5
As the death toll from COVID19 rose to 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi onTuesday announced a 21daylockdown for the entirecountry, stating that it wasthe only way for the countryto break the chain of infection. The lockdown will be ineff��ect till April 14.
In a nationwide televisionbroadcast, Mr. Modi said thepandemic was a huge challenge to every country andeven countries like the U.S.and Italy, considered to havegood health infrastructure,were struggling to controlthe situation.
“In such a situation wehave learnt from the experience of the countries thathave managed to get somecontrol over the surge in cases, and these show that alockdown for a sustained period of time is the only wayto break the chain of infection,” he said.
India on Tuesday recorded 564 positive cases, withthe number of positive patients in Kerala and Maharahstra crossing 100.
Stating that it was thepriority of both the Centreand State governments to setup health infrastructure asfast as possible to deal withthe pandemic, Mr. Modi said
the government had allotted₹��15,000 crore for the purchase of Personnel Protection Equipment for healthcare workers, setting uptesting laboratories and quarantine centres.
“Draw a Laxman Rekha
outside your house door anddo not step outside of it. Stay
where you are. This will bethe decisive battle againstcoronavirus,” he said.
Sounding a note of caution, he said: “If we are notable to adhere to this lockdown sincerely for 21 days,believe me, India will goback 21 years.
PM announces 21day lockdownas COVID19 toll touches 10 Govt. allots ₹��15,000 crore to beef up infrastructure for treatment of patients
Nistula Hebbar
NEW DELHI
MORE REPORTS ON A PAGES 2,
3, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
The Centre warned of an“increasing trend” in COVID19 cases — 519 activeones by Tuesday evening —in the country and calledupon State governments toenhance surveillance andcontact testing of thosewho may have been infected.
Meanwhile, complaintsof shortage of PersonalProtection Equipment fordoctors and health workers poured in from acrossthe country, indicating critical gaps in eff��orts to contain the pandemic.
In a Twitter post thatsoon went viral, KamnaKakkar, a government doctor in Haryana’s Rohtak,addressing the Prime Minister’s Offi��ce, said:“Please don’t send me towar without weapons@PMOIndia. Please arrange #PersonalProtectiveEquipment for us doctorsASAP. We need #N95masks#HazmatSuits to defeat#Corona. Sincerely yours,an Indian Doctor”. Following the tweet, the Congressattacked the governmentover the inadequate supplyof equipment.
Enforcing stringentcurbs, cases were bookedagainst several people forviolating prohibitory orders.
Ensure tightsurveillance,States told
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with MoS forFinance Anurag Thakur addressing the media on Tuesday. * PTI
Deadlines for fi��ling incometax and GST returns havebeen extended to June 30,as part of a slew of relaxations of fi��nancial yearendcompliance announced byFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday.
The changes had beenprompted by the shutdownof large parts of the countryin a bid to control thespread of the COVID19 viralinfection, so that taxpayerswere not forced to endangertheir health in a bid to meetcompliance requirements,she said.
Bank account holderswould not be charged extrafor using a debit card towithdraw money from theATMs of other banks for thenext three months, andcharges for not meeting minimum balance requirements would also bewaived. Bank charges fordigital transactions were al
so being reduced.Income tax returns for
the fi��nancial year 201819can now be fi��led until June30, with the interest rate ondelayed payments reducedto 9% from 12%. The lastdate for linking Aadhaarwith PAN has also been extended from March 31 toJune 30. Other taxpayercompliance deadlines, including for investment insavings instruments or forrollover benefi��t of capitalgains, under the IncomeTax Act and other laws havealso been extended.
The deadline for fi��lingGST returns for March, Apriland May, as well as for opting for the compositionscheme, has been extendedto June 30 for smaller companies — with less than ₹��5crore aggregate annual turnover — without any interest, late fee or penalty beingcharged.
Government extendstax deadlines to June 30ATM withdrawal charges waived
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
Former Chief Minister andNational Conference (NC)vicepresident Omar Abdullah, who was released onTuesday from a Srinagar subjail after 232 days, demandedthe release of other detaineesin Jammu and Kashmir and
called for a joint fi��ght againstCOVID19.
“We face the fi��ght of ourlives over the next few weeksand months as we come toterms and work to defeat COVID19. I will do everything inmy individual capacity tohelp the authorities overcome this challenge and I ap
peal to all of you to do thesame,” he said.
Mr. Abdullah was detainedon August 5 last ahead of theCentre’s decision to revokeJ&K’s special status and laterbooked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and kept in theHari Niwas subjail. Earlier onTuesday, J&K spokesman Ro
hit Kansal announced thatMr. Abdullah’s detention order had been revoked.
Sporting a long fl��owingwhite beard, Mr. Abdullah,who turned 50 in the jail onMarch 10, called for the release of other detainedpersons.
Omar Abdullah released after 232 days in detentionPeerzada Ashiq
Srinagar
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
In a major development inthe fi��ght against novelcoronavirus, PunebasedMyLab has become thefi��rst indigenous manufacturer to be approved fordeploying its kits forCOVID19 testing. A page 9
Made in Indiatesting kits
Kejriwal assures regularsupply of essential itemsNEW DELHI
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, in the wake of the
21day nationwide lockdown
announced by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesday
evening, sought to assure
citizens that the supply of
essential items would not be
aff��ected. Earlier in the day, he
announced that the Delhi
government will give ₹��5,000
to each construction worker
as their livelihood has been
aff��ected due the COVID19
outbreak.
CITY A PAGE 3DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
NEARBY
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics,originally scheduled to beheld from July 24 to August9, has been postponed to2021, the fi��rst such delay inthe Games’ 124year modern history, as the COVID19crisis wrecked the last international sporting showpiece meant for this year.
Though a huge blow toJapan, which invested $12billion in the runup, thedecision was a relief tothousands of athletes fretting over how to train.
Pressure had been building on the InternationalOlympic Committee and itspresident Thomas Bach,with some athletes andsporting bodies critical ofthe time taken to make aseemingly inevitable decision.
Tokyo Olympicsmoved to 2021over virus scareReuters
Tokyo
MORE REPORTS ON A PAGE 17
Medical staff�� from acrossIndia working with COVID19 patients appealed tothe Union Health Ministryfor help on Tuesday statingthat they are being harassed, with several ofthem told to immediatelyvacate their rented accommodation by landlords because of the fear that theycould spread the virus.
Medical staff��told to vacatetheir homesBindu Shajan Perappadan
NEW DELHI
DETAILS ON A PAGE 2
