The police tried to prevent the villagers from going near the plant but the latter ran past the former and staged a sit-in protest near the factory gate.

AIIMS director and pulmonologist Dr Randeep Guleria and Dr Manish Soneja of AIIMS' department of medicine, flew in on a special Indian Air Force plane on Friday, an official said.

The application for early hearing said the country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared nationwide lockdown due to which people are not allowed to go out except for essential services.

The Madras HC on Friday ordered closure of liquor outlets noting that no social distancing was being maintained. It, however, allowed doorstep delivery of booze through online mode.

In case the petitioners move a representation to the DMRC, it is supposed to dispose of the plea within four weeks by a reasoned order after taking inputs from authorities concerned.

The resumption of the classes are planned so that students can complete their remaining academic components. Examinations will be completed by July 31, said the JNU.

Amit Shah issued a statement saying that rumours about his health were being spread through social media.

The lockdown order will be in effect from May 9, 6 PM in Kalol and 6 AM on Sunday in Gandhinagar.

A request was also made for tweaking benefits under ESI and PF. However, as both fall under the central government, the state authorities have reportedly expressed it inability to make any amendments to the norms.

Farmers had raised concerns about labour shortage resulting from migrant labourers returning to their homes in view of the Covid-19 crisis.

The government also extended the timings for groceries and vegetable shops from the present 5 pm till 7 pm, effective Monday, throughout Tamil Nadu.

Our eyes are open to what Pakistan is doing, Singh said, hours after the NIA arrested a "notorious narco-terrorist" who acted as a conduit for Pakistan-based terror groups.

The leaders are apparently trying to cash in on the Covid-19 situation in a bid to impress chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy through distribution of essential articles​ ahead of a cabinet expansion.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the entire country is together in fighting the coronavirus but the Congress is busy "fighting" Modi and the government.

For Uddhav Thackeray to continue as the CM of Maharashtra, he will have to become a member of the legislature before May 28. That is when his six-month-old term ends.

The central teams have been visiting hospitals and quarantine centres and meeting officials in Kolkata and Siliguri.

He was governor of Bihar from July 24, 2009 to March 8, 2013 and of Tripura between March 25, 2013 and June 29, 2014. He had also served as governor (additional charge) of West Bengal from December 2009 to January 2010.

The Samajwadi Party chief also questioned why the ‘Kutumb Shakha’ of the RSS is being held despite a nationwide lockdown.

Priyanka Gandhi's remarks came over Agra Mayor Naveen Jain's letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, requesting him to 'save Agra'.

The death toll due to Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh rose to 27 with two more fatalities, while 177 fresh cases were reported on Saturday taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,793.

The people of the state are paying a heavy price because of the poor response to the crisis by the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance government in the state, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly alleged.

The RSS chief said there are 'anti-India forces' who are waiting to use the pandemic to break the country.

Chowdhury said that a large portion of the migrant labourers are from the minority community and urged that the government feed these people during the month of Ramadan owing to their hapless condition.

Bhagwat, who appeared hopeful of the pandemic ending soon and lifting of the lockdown, said the world will take time to fall in order after the big upset but the way ahead depends on self-reliance and being indigenous.

Referring to a company engaged in supply of testing kits, Manish Tewari alleged that kits purchased at Rs 245 were being sold by the firm to ICMR at Rs 600 each while the same to Tamil Nadu government were sold at Rs 400 each.

The letter written by the Agra Mayor was also tweeted by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The government has planned to distribute one crore packets of a Kadha (herbal decoction) which it claims boosts immunity and helps the body keep coronavirus infection away.

Fadnavis, leader of the opposition in the Assembly and former chief minister, was accompanied by Pravin Darekar, leader of opposition in the council, senior leaders Ashish Shelar and Vinod Tawde, as well as Mumbai party unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha.

Naidu also alleged that negligence of ruling party leaders sent a wrong message which led to neighbouring states constructing walls on borders with Andhra Pradesh.

DMK President M K Stalin slammed the fiscal management of the ruling AIADMK while AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran said it was not "acceptable" that the government has burdened its employees with such a measure.

On Monday, the cabinet made a fresh recommendation proposing Chief Minister Thackeray's nomination to one of the two vacant seats in the Council in the governor's quota.

As the deadly virus continues to claim lives, people not just in India but outside too, are looking for additional methods, especially in connection with age-old traditions, to help fight the pandemic.

While announcing a few relaxations in green zones, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said experts are of the opinion that restrictions should continue in Bengal till the end of May.

The BJP in a statement said the former diplomats, during their talks with Nadda, hailed India's move to help other countries in this time of coronavirus crisis.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told BJP party workers that the committees would be formed at every panchayat level in the rural areas and ward level in the urban areas.

Mukul Wasnik has been appointed as the general secretary, in-charge of MP, in addition to his current responsibility as the general secretary, in-charge of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the Congress said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also demanded that in these difficult times of the pandemic, the Centre must give the state governments their dues.

The Congress also highlighted the plight of the migrants who are stuck in different part of the country and wants to go home. The party urged the government to start plying trains immediately.

Asking when the lockdown will finally end, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the prime minister must also lay out the exit strategy from it and spell out the goalpost in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and economy.

While the two ruling alliance partners alleged that it was an attempt to lessen Mumbai's stature, the state BJP claimed that Congress-led governments did nothing to get IFSC in Mumbai when they ruled in Maharashtra earlier.

I expect the Prime Ministers Office to take a rational and judicious decision, keeping aside the state politics, said NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said the government was not willing to handle this humanitarian issue and was ignoring Indian tourists and students stranded abroad.

Kamal Nath said several of BJP leaders are still in talks with him and the present cabinet, led by BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, "would have to face it all soon”.

Sources also say that senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Hooda, Kumari Selja, Ashok Gehlot among other have been asked to mobilise funds for the mission.

As per figures released by the state excise department, on the very first day of the opening of shops, people bought liquor worth about 225 crore, setting a new record.

Venugopal said it was due to protests by a large number of expatriates and their relatives as well as the general public over the past few days that the central government took the decision to bring back Indian citizens from abroad.

Omar Abdullah was reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir authorities' decision to extend the detention of the former chief minister by another three months.

The RSS may want to be incorporate the broader policy adjustments -- both domestic and international – in the working and objectives of the government in the aftermath of the pandemic.

In a letter to the prime minister, Tharoor expressed appreciation for the central government for 'finally deciding to address the plight' of stranded 'pravasis' by commencing the process of repatriation from May 7 onwards.

BJP-nominated Rajya Sabha member Sambhaji Raje had earlier asked Fadnavis to apologise for "hurting the sentiments" of the followers of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj through his tweet.