Today’s Top Story
CBSE Board Exams, JEE Main Postponed; Number of Positive Cases in India Rises to 151
The government on Wednesday said the number of positive cases of Coronavirus in India has risen to 151, including 25 foreign nationals. The highest number of cases have so far been reported from Maharashtra (39), with Kerala (25) and Uttar Pradesh (15) following behind. The Ministry of External Affairs earlier confirmed that a total of 276 Indians living abroad were infected of which 255 are in Iran.
Worldwide toll: The global death toll from the new coronavirus pandemic topped 8,000, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The number of global infections shot past 200,000.
CBSE postpones boards: The CBSE postponed the ongoing class 10 and 12 examinations till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement came after a directive from the HRD Ministry directed the CBSE and all educational institutions in the country to postpone exams till March 31 in view of the outbreak.
Section 144 in Noida: As the administration and local authorities ramped up efforts to prevent the virus from spreading further, the Noida police invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after a man who returned from Indonesia tested positive for coronavirus.
Naveen Patnaik’s sister isolated: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ensured that his sister and renowned author Gita Mehta, who is under home isolation, who came back from the US shared her details with the government’s online portal.
Reckless move?: West Bengal home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, his wife and at least 10 other staff members were sent on home quarantine after it was found that the mother of the state's first identified novel coronavirus carrier met him on Monday.
Welcome step: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said 75 crore beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS) will be allowed to lift their quota of subsidised foodgrains for six months in one go, amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In Other News
MP political crisis: The Madhya Pradesh Congress sought in the Supreme Court that the trust vote in the state assembly be deferred till bypolls for the vacant seats are concluded, saying "heavens are not going to fall" if its government led by Kamal Nath is allowed to remain in office till then.
Yes Bank operates again: Yes Bank said it has resumed operations and all its banking services are available for its customers. RBI on March 5 had imposed restrictions on the crisis-ridden lender under which the bank's customers were allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 till April 3.
Gogoi to take oath: Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi will take oath as Rajya Sabha member at 11am on Thursday, sources said. Gogoi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind on March 16.
On Our Specials
Power play: While the old guard versus young blood battle within the Congress recently saw Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the grand old party to join the BJP and an attempt to destabilise the Kamal Nath government, the Shiv Sena is in the throes of its own battle of generations. Dhaval Kulkarni writes that the Shiv Sena’s target constituency of the Marathi manoos is shrinking within Mumbai and the surrounding areas, ironically under the party’s watch, and it needs to expand its electoral catchment.
Required push: Drug abuse has been Punjab’s bane and burden. The state's Congress government has made a number of strides over the last three years in a bid to counter the menace. But it seems that hasn’t been enough. Naresh Arora writes the state government must understand that merely establishing policies and programmes is not going to make much difference. The entire government machinery needs to pack a punch in terms of intent and implementation: to aggressively counter this challenge.
On Reel
Despite several measures to avoid mass gathering by various countries across globe, Ayodhya is all set to welcome lakhs of pilgrims. Uttar Pradesh has given a go-ahead for the Ram Navami Mela. Watch to know more.
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