CENTRE EASES RESTRICTIONS ACROSS COUNTRY BARRING CONTAINMENT ZONES

The union government is easing a number of restrictions currently in place,

from today. Barring the containment zones demarcated by the states, people

across the country will be able to enjoy certain relaxations while observing

safety measures such as social distancing and mandatory use of masks.

With certain manufacturing units set to commence work on April 20, the

Centre on Sunday allowed movement of migrant labour between districts within

a state. While allowing their movement by buses, it asked local authorities

to ensure social distancing, and arrange food and water for them along their

journey to the workplace. However, it prohibited inter-state movement of

such labourers from where they are currently located.

In its notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked local

authorities to first register all migrant labour in camps and shelters, and

then undertake a skill mapping exercise to ascertain their suitability for

various works. The notification comes in the backdrop of industrial units

expressing their inability to commence operations despite relaxations

(announced through an earlier April 15 order) which are effective Monday.

The industry had since informed the government about the difficulty in

organising in situ accommodation, and arranging private transport for

workers whose accommodation cannot be arranged.

While states cannot further dilute the restrictions, they can have tighter

controls in their respective jurisdictions. Here is a look at what some of

the states have planned

The Haryana government has authorised Deputy Commissioners of all districts

to permit economic activity in accordance with guidelines issued by the

Ministry of Home Affairs on April 15. District Magistrates will also be

authorised to fix the timings of various establishments/ industries and

other permitted activities depending on the local requirement and norms of

social distancing. In an order issued on Friday, the state said all

government offices at the district level will open from April 20. While for

Group A and B officers 100 per cent attendance has been ordered, the

attendance for Group C and D level employees shall be 33 per cent.

The Telangana government has extended the lockdown in the state till May 7.

Stating that the night curfew and lockdown restrictions will be implemented

very strictly, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao warned people of all

faiths not to hold religious gatherings or converge at religious places. He

also announced that the government has directed house-owners and landlords

not to demand rent from tenants for March, April and May. The government

also directed educational institutions not to increase fees for the 2020-21

academic year. App based food delivery companies, that were working during

day time so far, have been asked to stop operations.

With economic activity set to resume in some districts with certain

pre-conditions starting Monday, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday

reiterated the need for people to adhere to the rules of the lockdown.

Thackeray said that barring exceptions, district borders will continue to

remain sealed. The state on Monday will take up for discussion the

modalities that need to be in place to ensure the smooth inter-district flow

of migrant labourers. Thackeray said his government has created red, orange

and green zones - the red zone will cover areas where positive cases are

increasing and the orange zone would indicate that patients are not rising.

The green zone is in place where there are no patients. "We are allowing

some industrial activity in orange and green zones to some extent.,"

Thackeray said.

Limited economic activity will begin in half of Madhya Pradesh from Monday,

but a strict lockdown would be enforced in Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain. Sale

of gutka and liquor will also remain closed.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday that the decision to relax

the lockdown in 19 districts which have reported 10 or more COVID-19 cases

will be taken by District Magistrates depending on the situation.

The Kerala government on Sunday identified 88 hotspots in the state where no

relaxation in lockdown guidelines would be allowed until May 3. Last week,

the government had graded the state into four zones - red, orange A, orange

B and green. In districts in Orange A category, relaxations would be allowed

from April 24 onwards and in Orange B districts from April 20. Lockdown

norms will be intensified in four red category districts.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that the Delhi government had

decided not to provide any relaxation to the ongoing lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. He said that all 11 districts in the capital have cases

and therefore the lockdown needed to continue. "The government along with

experts will review the situation after a week to see if it is possible to

provide relaxations depending on the number of active cases," he said.

ON CHANGING CONTOURS OF WORK CULTURE: PM TAKES TO LINKEDIN

Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis and the lockdown, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the country's youth take the lead in providing

a new work culture through digital platforms. On a Linkedln post, PM Modi

emphasised on the need of adaptable business and lifestyle models.

"Doing so would mean that even in a time of crisis, our offices, businesses

and commerce could get moving faster, ensuring loss of life does not occur,"

he said.

PM Modi further said these days home was the new office and internet the new

meeting room. "Coronavirus has significantly changed the contours of

professional life. For the time being, office breaks with colleagues are

history. I have also been adapting to these changes. Most meetings, be it

with minister colleagues, officials and world leaders, are now via video

conferencing," PM Modi said.

"India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual, can emerge as

the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the

post COVID-19 world, PM Modi said. "Let us rise to that occasion and seize

this opportunity. ..The work place is getting "Digital First.And, why not?

After all, the most transformational impact of technology often happens in

the lives of the poor."

He also stressed that it was technology that demolishes bureaucratic

hierarchies, eliminates middlemen and accelerates welfare measures.

The PM also said the Covid-19 pandemic affects everyone equally. "Unlike

previous moments in history, when countries or societies faced off against

each other, "today we are together facing a common challenge. The future

will be about togetherness and resilience," he said.

Referring to the post-coronavirus world, Modi said we should evaluate what

might be the new opportunities or growth areas that would emerge now.

"Rather than playing catch up, India must be ahead of the curve in the

post-COVID world. Let us think about how our people, our skills sets, our

core capabilities can be used in doing so," he said.

OIC BODY CONDEMNS TARGETING OF MUSLIMS OVER SPREAD OF COVID

An advisory body of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) bloc on

Sunday condemned the Islamophobic campaign targeting Muslims for the spread

of Covid and urged the Indian government to take urgent steps to stop the

growing tide of Islamophobia in India.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also spoke on the "deliberate and violent

targeting" of Muslims in India by the Modi government to "divert the

backlash over its Covid policy, which has left thousands stranded and

hungry".

Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), which made the

observations, is an expert body with advisory capacity established by OIC.

Pakistan is a founder-member of the OIC and sources said it must have been

disappointed that the statement did not come from its more influential

organs such as the Contact Group of Foreign Ministers or the OIC itself.

The Commission also spoke against the alleged negative profiling of Muslim

in the Indian media and subjecting them to discrimination and violence.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 17,304 (+1,581) / 24,07,339 (+75,447)

Total Deaths 559 (+38) / 1,65,069 (+4,306)

Total Recovered 2,854 (+388) / 6,17,023 (+19,829)

Active Cases 13,891 (+1,155) / 16,25,247 (+51,312)

Serious / Critical Cases (Not Available) / 54,218 (-1,062)

Top 6 impacted nations so far: (Country / Total No of cases / Deaths)

USA 7,64,265 / 40,565

Spain 1,98,674 / 20,453

Italy 1,78,972 / 23,660

France 1,52,894 / 19,718

Germany 1,45,742 / 4,642

UK 1,20,067 / 16,060

Top 15 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

Maharashtra 4,200 / 223

Delhi 2,003 / 45

Gujarat 1,743 / 63

Rajasthan 1,478 / 23

Tamil Nadu 1,477 / 15

Madhya Pradesh 1,407 / 72

Uttar Pradesh 1,100 / 17

Telangana 858 / 21

Andhra Pradesh 647 / 17

Kerala 401 / 2

Karnataka 390 / 16

Jammu and Kashmir 354 / 5

West Bengal 310 / 12

Haryana 250 / 3

Punjab 244 / 16

Bihar 96 / 2

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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WUHAN LAB DENIES CHARGES

A laboratory in the Chinese city at ground zero of the global COVID-19

outbreak has rejected U.S. theories that it spawned the pandemic. The denial

came as world governments were debating how and when to ease lockdowns that

have kept more than half of humanity - 4.5 billion people - confined to

their homes and crippled the global economy.

The virus was probably first transmitted to humans at a Wuhan market where

exotic animals were slaughtered, according to Chinese scientists. But

conspiracy theories that the virus came from a maximum-security virology lab

have been brought into the mainstream by U.S. government officials.

"There's no way this virus came from us," Yuan Zhiming, the head of the P4

laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is equipped to handle

dangerous viruses, said in an interview with state media. "I know it's

impossible."

Meanwhile, China has classified the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan as a

low-risk area, days after it revised the city's death toll by 50 per cent,

even as 16 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the country, health officials

said on Sunday.

As per the risk criteria defined in a guideline issued by China's State

Council, cities, counties and districts with no newly confirmed cases in the

last 14 days are categorised as low-risk areas.

US FACED WITH PROTESTS AMID PRESSURE TO REOPEN

Protests against coronavirus-related restrictions spread to more US states

over the weekend after President Donald Trump backed them with his

"LIBERATE" tweets.

Hundreds gathered in state capitals of Texas, Maryland, Utah, California,

Arizona, Washington and Colorado, with signs and chants against the

restrictions as a violation of their rights.

Some carried signs saying the virus was a hoax, and some in Texas called for

firing top epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House

coronavirus task force, who some people see as undermining the American

president.

Protestors in Michigan, New York, Kentucky, Texas and some other states

earlier defied social distancing norms issued by the Trump administration.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that the state would

extend its stay home measures until 15 May. Speaking at his daily virus

briefing on Sunday, Cuomo urged caution to residents, beset with "cabin

fever" and desperate for their state to reopen. "We still have to make sure

we keep that beast under control," he said. "As we all get very eager to get

on with life and move on." "This is only halftime in this entire situation."

AUSTRALIA TO MAKE GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK PAY FOR NEWS CONTENT

Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news

content in Australia, the government said on Monday as the coronavirus

pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the competition watchdog, the Australian