Breaking News LIVE, April 19:
The Allahabad high court on Monday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to close all establishments in the state, be it private or government, till April 26 in view of the rising cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Those which offer essential services will be exempted form the order, the court said.
India tests 26,78,94,549 samples tested for Covid-19 as of April 18. Of these, 13,56,133 samples were tested on Sunday, says Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Delhi government imposes curfew in the national capital starting from today till Monday as positivity rate touches 30%.
Sensex crashes 1,257.56 pts to 47,574.47 in opening session; Nifty tanks 379.10 pts to 14,238.75.
India on Monday recorded 2,75,306 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far since the pandemic broke out, Worldometer showed this morning. With this, India’s Covid tally has shot up to 15,057,767 cases. India also reported the highest-ever single-day spike in Covid-related deaths with 1,625 fatalities. The death toll from the deadly infection stands at 178,793.
Former Bihar Minister and JDU MLA Mewalal Choudhary, who had recently tested positive for Covid-19, passed away due to the infection at a hospital in Patna. Bihar has registered a total of 8,690 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
Voting for the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls will be held on Monday with more than 3.48 lakh candidates in the fray for over 2.23 lakh posts in 20 districts. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm with over 3.23 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise. The second phase assumes significance as state capital Lucknow and Varanasi will go to polls in this round.
In a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Rajasthan government ordered the closure of offices and markets from Monday to May 3, according to a release. Called the Jan Anushasan Pakhwada” (public discipline fortnight), only shops and offices providing essential services will open during the 15-day period, the release issued by Home Secretary Abhay Kumar said. The sale of fruits and vegetables will be allowed till 7 pm. Those entering Rajasthan will have to show a negative RT-PCR report issued 72 hours prior to the travel.
