The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $1.5 billion loan that will support the government's response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, focusing on immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social protection for the poor and economically vulnerable sections of the society, especially women and disadvantaged groups. Earlier, the ADB's Board of Directors approved the loan to provide budget support to the government to counter and mitigate the adverse health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic.

Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways Shri Piyush Goyal held discussions with the Export Promotion Councils(EPCs) of the country. He called upon the Exporters to identify their strengths, potentials and competitive advantages in specific sectors, and focus on harnessing them in the world markets. Goyal said that in the post-Covid era, there is going to be perceptible change in the global supply-chains, and Indian industrialists and exporters should be looking to capture significant share in the world trade. He assured them that the Government will be a pro-active supporter and facilitator in their efforts, and the Indian Missions abroad can play an important role in that. The Minister said that Incentives can be given, but they have to be justified, reasonable, and WTO-compliant.

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Union Minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari informed that a policy on imports substitution is being thought of in the wake of the new economic situation created by COVID-19 pandemic. He called upon various stake-holders to convert knowledge into wealth by improving quality through innovations and cutting down cost. He sited the example of a Nagpur based MSME Orange cluster taking up PPE making from scratch. These PPEs cost between Rs 550 to Rs 650 against the market price of about Rs 1200 for which country was heavily import dependent. The cluster is in a position to supply large quantity of PPEs.

There are plenty of financial and nonfinancial issues advisers need to address with their clients before they sell their business.

The Fit and color of the clothes you wear to a business meeting have an impact on how you are first perceived. Get off on the right foot by watching our guide on how to dress for success in business.

The Shirt founder Rochelle Behrens, Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione and Intelius co-founder Naveen Jain share advice on raising capital at Wall Street Journal's How I Built It 2012 panel in Washington, D.C. . WSJ's Vanessa O'Connell leads the discussion.

Sales rise 27.54% to Rs 13.20 crore

Some with direct connections to political dispensations could face heat; others considered close to the winning party could expect good times

DMDK's vote share plummeted to 2.4% in the 2016 Assembly polls from 7.88% in 2011, even as the party failed to return a single legislator

The ministry plans to achieve this target by doubling the current pace of electrification

Cadila Healthcare gains 0.11% to Rs 321.95 after the company said it received final approval from US drug regulator for Deferasirox tablets for oral suspension.

IndusInd Bank Ltd is quoting at Rs 461.45, up 1.56% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 68.75% in last one year as compared to a 17.57% slide in NIFTY and a 31.78% slide in the Nifty Bank index.

HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd is quoting at Rs 519.65, up 5.08% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 26.88% in last one year as compared to a 17.57% slide in NIFTY and a 20.42% slide in the Nifty Financial Services index.

SBI Card's net profit jumped 43.9% to Rs 1244.82 crore on a 33.8% rise in total income to Rs 9752.29 crore in the year ended March 2020 (FY20) over the year ended March 2019 (FY19)

As fears of the novel coronavirus spread through the U.S., the high-contact tradition of presidential campaigning came to a halt. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains what Americans may see as campaigning resumes. Photo: Shutterstock/Zuma Press

Sales rise 25.20% to Rs 3186.96 crore

Adani Enterprises on Friday (8 May) said it has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary company, "Nanasa Pidgaon Road" on 8 May 2020.

Adani Transmission's consolidated net profit dropped 60% to Rs 59 crore on a 3% decline in operational revenue to Rs 2220 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.

At least six security personnel, including an Army major, were killed on Friday when a roadside bomb struck a patrol vehicle in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan, close to the border with Iran. The Army said in a statement that a vehicle of paramilitary Frontier Corps was targeted through a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) in Kech district's Buleda area, about 14 km from the Iran border. A major and five soldier embraced shahadat while one soldier was injured, according to army. No one took responsibility but Baloch militants often target the security forces in the province. It is the first major attack on the forces in Balochistan since the outbreak of COVID-19.

An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi's secret service, a court said Friday. Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing since 2015. "He allegedly provided information about figures in the Sikh opposition scene and the Kashmiri movement and their relatives in Germany, and passed this on to his handlers who were working at the Indian consulate general in Frankfurt," the higher regional court in the city said in a statement. The trial will open on August 25. The same Frankfurt court convicted an Indian couple for spying on the same communities last December.

The owner of a popular Indian-American grocery story has been charged with price gouging during the coronavirus pandemic, when the entire state is under stay-at-home orders. Following consumer complaints, an investigation office revealed that Rajvinder Singh, owner of the popular Apna Bazaar in California's Pleasanton, had allegedly increased the prices of grocery items following the emergency declaration by the governor on March 4. Based on evidence provided by customer receipts, the investigation confirmed that the pricing of several food items exceeded the 10-per cent increase allowed during a state of emergency, with some prices being as much as 200 per cent more than what was previously charged, according to a joint statement issued by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley. The food items listed in the complaint include yellow onions, ginger, green beans, instant noodles, tea, chili peppers, pomegranates and red yams. "We ..

US Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said on Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was "not worried" about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive on Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller had been tested or if he was still working out of the White House. Katie Miller had tested negative on Thursday, a day before her positive result. "This is why the whole concept of tests are not necessarily great," Trump said. "The tests are perfect but something can happen between a test where it is ...

An appeals court should let a June 23 primary election in New York state proceed without voters and poll workers being forced to risk exposure to the coronavirus to vote for a Democratic candidate for president when the race is essentially over, lawyers for the state said Friday. The written arguments were filed by Attorney General Letitia James and Senior Assistant Solicitor Judith N. Vale after a judge ordered the state to include the presidential race on the ballot even though former Vice President Joe Biden is essentially running unopposed. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has scheduled oral arguments for next Friday. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said it was unconstitutional to eliminate the Democratic presidential primary after delegates for withdrawn candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang complained that doing so weakens their standing at the Democratic Convention. She noted that a primary for contested races across New York state was ...

The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation's top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government emails. The files also show that after the AP reported Thursday that the guidance document had been buried, the Trump administration ordered key parts of it to be fast-tracked for approval. The trove of emails obtained by The Associated Press show the nation's top public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spending weeks working on guidance to help the country deal with a public health emergency, only to see their work quashed by political appointees with little explanation. The document, titled Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework, was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen. It included detailed decision trees, or flow ..

AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has revealed that some of his squad members were still recovering from coronavirus. Serie A has been on hold since mid-March but Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday he was hopeful group training could resume on May 18. "We have some infected players in the process of recovery," Scaroni told local media. Scaroni believes Italian football must live with COVID-19 and take an example from the Bundesliga which will restart on May 16. "We have to get used to living with the virus and this also applies to football," he said. "It is not possible to stand still until there is zero infection. Basically we can adopt the German formula that provides that those who are sick go into quarantine while their teammates continue." Milan technical director Paolo Maldini, together with his 18-year-old son Daniel, a youth team player, have both recovered from the virus. "Maldini father and son are doing well. There are players who are improving, but .

Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra's tenure as the chief of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has been extended till May next year after its annual congress was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to postpone the Congress, which was earlier scheduled to begin in New Delhi on October 28, was taken at an online meeting of the FIH Executive Board on Friday. "I'm looking forward to the numerous tournaments and competitions ahead of us, which we are preparing with full dedication and passion with all National Associations involved," Batra said. The exact date of the postponed congress will be confirmed as soon as possible, the FIH said in a statement. "This decision, made due to the current uncertainties following the global COVID-19 pandemic, is based on Art. 12.1 of the FIH Statutes, covering cases of force majeure," it added. The postponement means the tenures of all the current FIH office-bearers get extension until next year's ...

"Little Women" star Eliza Scanlen and "Jojo Rabbit" breakout Thomasin McKenzie are among the actors in negotiations for M Night Shyamalan's next directorial feature. According to Variety, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff and Vicky Krieps are also in discussions for the filmmaker's top-secret project, which he will write, direct and produce. Though the details of the plot have been kept under wraps, it is rumoured that the movie might be connected with some of the other films by the director. The yet-to-be-titled feature will be released by Universal Picture. Scanlen, 21, is best known for starring in TV series "Sharp Objects" and Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" adaptation, while 19-year-old McKenzie broke out with Taika Waititi's Oscar-winning satirical feature "Jojo Rabbit". Krieps, 36, became popular after she starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's romance drama "Phantom Thread", opposite Daniel Day Lewis. Wolff, 22, is best-known for starring in movies such as Ari Aster's "Hereditary" and the two

Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was not worried about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller had been tested or if he was still working in the White House. Katie Miller had tested negative Thursday, a day before her positive result. This is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great, Trump said. The tests are perfect but something can happen between a test where it's good and then something ...

President Donald Trump says he's in no rush to negotiate another financial rescue bill, even as the government reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs last month due to economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus. The president's low-key approach came Friday as the Labor Department reported the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression and as Democrats prepared to unveil what Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calls a Rooseveltian-style aid package to shore up the economy and address the health crisis. Some congressional conservatives, meanwhile, who set aside long-held opposition to deficits to pass more than USD 2 trillion in relief so far, have expressed reservations about another massive spending package. We've kind of paused as far as formal negotiations go, Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council told reporters Friday. He said the administration wanted to let the last round of recovery funding kick in before committing to ..

Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, making her the third White House staff member to be infected from COVID-19, a media report said on Saturday. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for US President Donald Trump's daughter, has not been around her in several weeks, the CNN reported. She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the report quoted a source as saying. She was not symptomatic. Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner both tested negative on Friday, the person familiar with the matter told the US news channel. The development comes a day after President Trump confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller had tested positive for the coronavirus. "She's a wonderful young woman, Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive," Trump said during a meeting at the White House. He said Miller had not come into ...

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday approved amendments to the country's state of emergency that grant him and security agencies additional powers, which the government says are needed to combat the coronavirus outbreak. An international rights group condemned the amendments, saying the government has used the global pandemic to expand, not reform, Egypt's abusive Emergency Law. The new amendments allow the president to to take measures to contain the virus, such as suspending classes at schools and universities and quarantining those returning from abroad. But they also include expanded powers to ban public and private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly. The government has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since 2013, when el-Sissi rose to power, and unauthorized protests have been banned for years. The amendments also allow military prosecutors to investigate incidents when army officers are tasked with law enforcement or when the .

Adult animated comedy series Santa Inc, featuring Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman, has been picked up by upcoming streaming platform HBO Max. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the eight-episode series comes from writer, showrunner, and executive producer Alexandra Rushfield. It follows Candy Smalls (Silverman), the highest-ranking female elf in the North Pole. When the successor to Santa Claus (Rogen) is poached by Amazon on Christmas Eve, Candy goes for her ultimate dream -- to become the first woman Santa Claus in the history of Christmas, the plotline read. The project comes from Lionsgate and Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver's Point Grey Pictures. Rushfield, Silverman, Amy Zvi and Rosa Tran will serve as executive producers. I have long dreamed of a taking a beloved holiday tradition and adding a feminist agenda and some R rated comedy and when I read this script from Ali, with Seth and Sarah attached to voice, I knew that it was a perfect fit for us at Max, said Suzanna ...

Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act's famed white tigers, has died. He was 75. Horn died of complications from the coronavirus on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a statement released by publicist Dave Kirvin. Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend, Siegfried Fischbacher said in the statement. From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried. He was injured in October 2003 when a tiger named Montecore attacked him on stage at the Mirage hotel-casino in Las Vegas. He had severe neck injuries, lost a lot of blood and later suffered a stroke. He underwent lengthy rehabilitation, but the attack ended the long-running Las Vegas Strip production. The darker-haired of the flashy duo, Horn was credited with the idea of ...

Singapore on Saturday saw a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases as the city-state reported 753 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total to 22,460, majority of them foreign nationals, including Indians, living in dormitories. On Friday, Singapore reported 768 new cases of coronavirus. The Health Ministry said the vast majority of the 753 new cases reported on Saturday are work permit holders (foreigners) residing in worker dormitories. Nine cases are Singapore citizens or permanent residents (foreigners). As of Friday, 19,232 of the 323,000 foreign workers living in dormitories, or nearly six per cent, have tested positive for COVID-19, reported The Straits Times. Singapore had placed 18,402 coronavirus patients in isolation while 1,245 are hospitalised by Friday, according to a data from the Health Ministry. The Ministry said 1,245 cases were still in hospital while 20 people have died of the disease. Singapore currently has the highest number of coronavirus cases ..

An Indian teenager here has recorded songs in over 20 languages, including Arabic, to spread awareness on the COVID-19, saying music has always been her choice for effective communication, according to a media report on Saturday. Suchetha Satish's songs advise the people to keep distance, maintain cleanliness and practice hand washing regularly, the Khaleej Times reported on Saturday. Satish, who hails from Kerala, released her first coronavirus awareness song on March 16 in English, titled 'Say No To Panic', the daily reported. Since then, 14-year-old Satish, who holds the world record for singing in most number of languages in a concert, has recorded the awareness songs in Malayalam, Bengali, Arabic, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Gujrati, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Himachali, Odiya, Manipuri, Nepali, Urdu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Kashmiri and Sanskrit. Her songs in Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Assamese were used by the Kerala government in its 'Break the Chain' campaign, the .

Crouching over the sun-drenched soil, Alfred Abayev picks up a charred fragment of a Soviet warplane downed in a World War II battle with advancing Nazi forces. You can see it was burning, he says, pointing at the weathered trace of a red star. Abayev and members of his search team rummage the steppe for remains of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the autumn of 1942 in fierce fighting with Nazi troops pushing toward the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad. Stiff resistance by the Red Army stopped the Wehrmacht onslaught in the steppes of Kalmykia, and months later the enemy's forces were encircled in Stalingrad and surrendered, a major defeat for the Nazis that marked a turning point in World War II. The search for remains of fallen Red Army soldiers near Khulkhuta, in Kalmykia, a southern province that lies between the Volga River and the Caspian Sea, is part of a broad effort by myriad volunteer groups across Russia to pay tribute to fallen World War II soldiers. Russia's losses stood .

Jihadists burst into the gold mine where Moussa Tambura worked in Burkina Faso, forbidding everyone from smoking and drinking. It wasn't long before the men returned and leveled the place to the ground. They attacked the site, killed people and burned houses, said Tambura, 29, clenching his fists. He was able to find work again after fleeing to Bouda, another town in country's north that still has small-scale mining. Still, he struggles to provide for his family since his new job isn't as lucrative as his old one. Jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization have been overrunning gold mines like Tambura's one by one as they try to gain control of Burkina Faso's most lucrative industry. The extremists are then collecting a protection tax from communities living around the gold mines and also forcing the miners to sell them the gold exclusively, which is then smuggled and sold across the border in places like Benin, Ghana or Togo. The violence already has shuttered ...

A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel if morbid solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers say can double as a casket if a patient dies. Company manager Rodolfo Gmez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador. Families in the coastal city of Guayaquil waited with dead loved ones in their homes for days last month as COVID-19 cases surged. Many could not find or were unable to afford a wood coffin, using donated cardboard ones instead. Gmez said he plans to donate 10 of his new beds to Colombia's Amazonas department, where resources are in short supply. So far there is no indication whether the beds will be put to use and no orders have been placed.

The number of people dying from the coronavirus in Ohio's nursing homes has continued to increase at an alarming pace. Close to 500 residents of long-term care centers have died of COVID-19 in the past three weeks, according to data released by the state this week. That's nearly double the total reported for the previous two weeks. The increase in deaths could be attributed to a significant jump or a backlog of cases being added over the past week, said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department. Since mid-April, more than 4,300 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the virus. The numbers don't tell the entire story of how the virus has devastated nursing homes during the pandemic because the Ohio Department of Health has only released the totals for just the past three weeks. Before that, the state didn't require local health departments to report nursing home deaths linked to the virus.

A 40-year-old Indian-origin woman in Singapore was charged with five counts, including use of criminal force, in a court here on Saturday for refusing to wear a face mask for protection against COVID-19 and assaulting a police officer who tried to ascertain her identity. Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamswamy was arrested after the incident that happened at a shopping mall on May 7 and was captured on video. Retnamswamy, who is a Singaporean, was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric evaluation after the incident, reported The Straits Times. She was taken to a court on Saturday and faced five charges, including use of abusive words and criminal force against a public servant. The next hearing is scheduled for May 22 after her remand in the IMH. According to the police statement on Friday, the woman insulted the mall staff and hurled abuses at a security officer who was trying to get her to put on her mask correctly. The widely-shared video of the incident shows a ..

Australia's Super Rugby competition is planning for an early July return, a spokesman said Saturday, after the coronavirus outbreak derailed the season and sparked turmoil within the sport's cash-strapped governing body. Rugby Australia's board suffered another tumultuous week with new director Peter Wiggs -- who had been tipped to take over the chairman's role -- quitting after just five weeks in the job. His departure followed the resignation last month of chief executive Raelene Castle after pressure from the board and a simmering financial crisis. Clubs are set to begin training in the coming days under strict health regulations aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 among players, a spokesman said on Saturday. "We do not have a confirmed date for the resumption of Super Rugby in Australia, however early July presents a best case scenario," he added. This year's Super Rugby competition saw seven rounds played before the pandemic forced a stop to the season in March. The ...

CBS network has given straight-to-season orders to TV spin-offs based on movies The Equalizer and Silence of the Lambs. The Silence of the Lambs series, titled Clarice, features Pretty Little Liars actor Rebecca Breeds as FBI agent Clarice Starling, the character portrayed by Jodie Foster and later Julianne Moore on the big screen. In The Equalizer reboot, Queen Latifah will play the role of a retired special-ops agent, the part previously essayed on TV and film by Edward Woodward and Denzel Washington. Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles, Liza Lapira, and Laya DeLeon Hayes also star. According to Entertainment Weekly, CBS also greenlit to series a new comedy from Chuck Lorre along with Marco Pennette titled B Positive. The network is planning to premiere the shows sometime later this year or in 2021.

Tens of thousands of people have turned out in the capital of Belarus despite sharply rising coronavirus infections to watch a military parade celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Belarus has not imposed wide-ranging restrictions to halt the virus' spread and authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed concerns about it as a "psychosis." At Saturday's parade of some 3,000 soldiers, Lukashenko said Belarus' ordeal in the war is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day. Some aged war veterans in the stands at the parade wore masks, but in general there were few masks to be seen in the throng of spectators. Belarus, a country of about 9 million, has recorded more than 21,000 cases of coronavirus infection.

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic. In neighboring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thousands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months. Putin on Saturday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honoring the valor and suffering of the Soviet army during the war. Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday and this year's observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus. The only vestige of the conventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and .

South Korea's capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, and Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, underscoring the dangers authorities face as they try to reopen their economies. Elsewhere, Belarus, which has not locked down despite increasing case numbers, saw tens of thousands of people turn out to mark Victory Day, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945. That was in contrast to Russia, where a muted event took place over an empty Red Square. Around the world, the US and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity without touching off a deadly second wave of infection. Germany and South Korea have both carried out extensive testing and contact tracing and have been hailed for avoiding the mass deaths that have overwhelmed other countries. But even there, authorities have struggled with finding the balance between ...

Nepal on Saturday raised objection over India inaugurating a strategically crucial link road connecting the Lipulekh pass at a height of 17,000 feet along the border with China in Uttarakhand with Dharchula, saying this "unilateral act" runs against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said the government "has learnt with regret" about the inauguration of the link road connecting to Lipulekh pass, which Nepal claims to be part of its territory. The 80-Km new road inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in China as it is around 90 kms from the Lipulekh pass. After inaugurating the road through video-conferencing, Singh said pilgrims going to Kailash-Mansarovar will now be able to complete their journey in one week instead of up to three weeks. The road originates at Ghatiabagarh and ends at Lipulekh pass, the ...

The Drug Controller of India has allowed clinical trial of Favipiravir medicine, developed indigenously a CSIR laboratory, on coronavirus patients, Director General Shekhar Mande said on Friday. He said the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad has developed the technology to make the drug Favipiravir. The technology has been transferred to a private company, IICT Director S Chandrashekar said. The company will now tie up with hospitals for clinical trials so that the drug could be tested on patients suffering from COVID-19. Approval from patients will be necessary as per the protocols, he said. Mande said Favipiravir is used in countries such as China and Japan to treat influenza. Whenever, a virus enters a cell, it tries to create multiple replicas. Favipiravir stops the replication process, he explained. The CSIR has already tied up with Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd to evaluate Mycobacterium W (Mw) for faster recovery of hospitalised COVID-19 patients and minimise

Five people, who had travelled from Rajasthan to Silchar, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, taking the total number of cases in Assam to 58, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Of the total 58 cases, 23 are active, he said. "There are two more COVID-19 patients who travelled in the bus which ferried people from Rajasthan. They are from Cachar district," the minister tweeted. Three other persons tested positive earlier in the day, while four others tested positive on Thursday and another on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases related to this group, who came from Ajmer to 10. The patients have been admitted to Silchar Medical College Hospital. A bus carrying 45 passengers and crew, arrived at Silchar on Wednesday, after being given permission by the Ajmer Deputy Commissioner. Of them 10 have tested positive so far. As the passengers had gone home briefly after screening, several areas in four villages of Cachar district has been declared as containment zones, he ...

The Haryana government said on Friday a three-member SIT, which will be headed by a senior IAS officer, has been constituted to investigate the huge stock of liquor going missing from two godowns in Sonipat, and the alleged sale of illicit liquor in the state. With several bootlegging incidents being reported during the lockdown when liquor vends were closed, the SIT will also probe sale of illicit liquor in the state during the period, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said. Liquor vends in Haryana were closed from March 27 after the lockdown was announced, but have now reopened from May 6 after the state government decided to open the vends. He said a senior IAS officer -- either Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Kaushal or T C Gupta -- will head the SIT while IPS officer Subhash Yadav and Additional Excise Commissioner Vijay Singh will also be its members and jointly investigate the matter. The scope of the SIT, which was earlier to probe the case of seized liquor going missing from the godowns ..