India Lockdown Day 2: Many States Impose Curfew; FM Announces Relief Measures

23-year-old woman, who returned to Manipur from UK, tests positive for coronavirus in first instance of infection in Northeast: Official

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directs all states and union territories to ensure 'operational continuity' of print and electronic media in view of the corona virus outbreak.

• The state government has announced payment of Rs.1000 to all ration card holders along with 17 Kg of rice, sugar, dal and cooking oil
• Construction workers and auto drivers will get Rs 1000/ as relief.
• Public exams for higher secondary students begin today while exams for class X and XI are postponed.
• Three more positive cases reported, taking the total number of cases to 12. One person tested positive had no travel history. 

Rs 1000 to all ration card holders, Free rice, sugar, and other essential commodities. To avoid long queues, commodities will be issued on a token basis - Honourable CM Thiru. Edappadi K. Palanisaamy. #CoronavirusOutbreak #StayAtHomeSaveLives

— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) March 24, 2020

Two more people test positive for Ccoronavirus in West Bengal. The number of cases goes up to eight in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8:00pm Tuesday, on coronavirus outbreak

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Election Commission of India has postponed indefinitely the elections to the Rajya Sabha that were scheduled to be held on March 26, PTI reported, quoting official sources.

A case has been registered against a Coca Cola plant in Himachal Pradesh, operated by a local company, Krish Flexipacks, for running the plant in violation of an lockdown order, officials said on Tuesday.
The Coca Cola factory in Nalagarh, which falls under Baddi police district of Solan, was found to be operating during a surprise check on Monday night, Baddi Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani told PTI.
An FIR has been registered against the factory and its owners under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Nalagarh police station, the report said.
In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, operations of all units barring those manufacturing essential commodities have been banned during the lockdown in the state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a special one-month pay for doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are treating coronavirus infected patients in the state, according to The Hindu.

Just In | Special one-month pay for doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are treating #COVID19 patients, #TamilNadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announces in the Assembly.

— The Hindu - Chennai (@THChennai) March 24, 2020

Chinese authorities announced on Tuesday they would end a two-month lockdown of most of virus-hit Hubei province at midnight, reported the Indian Express. The decision came as Hubei has seen almost no new infections for more than a week now.

However, The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until April 8, the report added. The virus has reportedly claimed 3,153 deaths and infected 81,514 cases in China so far.

In light of people reportedly defying the lockdown orders at various places in the country, the Centre on Tuesday has asked states to impose curfew “wherever necessary,” according to PTI.

Following the announcement, Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district imposed curfew in its bid to crackdown on people violating lockdown orders.

On Monday, some state governments, such as that of Punjab, Puducherry and Maharashtra, had imposed curfew after people were found to be violating the lockdown in the states.

As the coronavirus-infected cases keeps an upward trajectory in the country, many states now look to set up a dedicated hospital for treating COVID-19 patients.

In Maharashtra, which reported India’s 10th death due to COVID-19 disease, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced to set up India’s first dedicated COVID-19 hospital, among other measures, according to The Hindu.

The government in Union Territory of J&K reportedly declared Government Medical College Hospital also on Tuesday as a dedicated COVID-19 hospital for Jammu Province.

Bhopal’s Memorial Hospital will reportedly be the hospital dedicated to look after COVID-19 patients in Madhya Pradesh.

In the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, MoS Ministry of Labour and Employment has issued an advisory to all states & UTs to transfer funds in the account of construction workers through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) mode from the cess fund collected by the Labour Welfare Boards, according to news agency ANI.

About Rs 52,000 crores is available as cess fund and about 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with these construction welfare boards. #COVID19 https://t.co/SSlTWBmIQB

— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

Hours after Manipur reported first confirmed case of coronavirus of a 23-year-old woman in northeast India, the state imposed state-wide indefinite curfew, according to news agency PTI.

Manipur is currently among the states that imposed complete lockdown on all districts. To strictly impose the restrictions, centre had earlier today asked all states to impose curfew “wherever necessary.”

As the country steps up its efforts to restrict the spread of the coronavirus, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman makes announcements on Tuesday that are “very close to coming out with economic package” to deal with the crisis, according to PTI. Here are some of the major decisions taken by the Centre:

• Aadhaar-PAN linking date to be extended from March 31 to June 30, 2020

• All remaining filing and compliance, including investments by taxpayer, extended to June 30

• Vivaad se Vishwas deadline extended till June 30, 2020 and from now, till June 30, 2020, no additional charge of 10%.

• For 2018-19, last date for income tax returns will be extended to June 30.

• For delayed payments for 2018-19, interest rate reduced from 12 per cent to 9 per cent

• No extension, but on delayed deposit of TDS, only reduced interest of 9 per cent will be charged till June 30, 2020. Earlier rate was 18 per cent.

• Sabka Vishwas scheme to settle disputes under indirect tax regime will be further extended from March 31, 2020 till June 30, 2020. No interest will be levied if paid by then.

Regarding compliance and deadlines related to Goods and Service Tax (GST):

• to extend last date for filling March, April, May GST returns to June 30, 2020

• no interest, late fee or penalty will be charged for companies with less than Rs. 5 crore turnover

• no late fee or penalty, but interest will be charged at reduced rate of 9 per cent for bigger companies with turnover larger than Rs. 5 crore

• extend date for opting for composition scheme till June 30, 2020

Regarding compliance and regulations related to Ministry of Company Affairs, the FM announced that:

• In respect of MCA 21 registry, there is a moratorium issued from April 1 till September 30, 2020. There shall not be any additional fees for late filing. 

• For the mandatory requirement of holding board meetings, we are relaxing it by a period of 60 days for the next two quarters

• Applicability of Companies auditor's report order 2020, which should have come into force in 2019-20, will now be effective only from the year 2020-21

• For the 2019-20, if independent directors of the company have not been able to hold even one meeting, it will not be seen as a violation.

She also said that debit card holders can withdraw cash from any other bank's ATM for free for three months, without additional charges.

The Railway Board on Tuesday announced that it will use its production units to manufacture essential items for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The board issued orders to production units to explore the feasibility of manufacturing items like hospital beds, ventilators, masks, sanitisers, according to PTI.

The board also decided to release salaries of lakhs of contractual workers, engaged in on-board housekeeping service, sanitation, pantry car and commercial activities, during suspension of its passenger services, according to Economic Times. The services are suspended till March 31, due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Statewide indefinite curfew has been imposed in all the twelve districts of the Himachal Pradesh from 5 pm on Tuesday.

In a tweet, state Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the state government was forced to take the step as several people were not following the lockdown imposed in the state since Monday.

प्रदेशवासियों की सुरक्षा हमारी सर्वोच्च प्राथमिकता है।कोरोना वायरस की रोकथाम के लिए हमने निर्णय लिया है कि हिमाचल में आज शाम पाँच बजे से कर्फ्यू लागू किया जाएगा जो आगामी आदेशों तक जारी रहेगा।प्रदेशवासियों से अपील है कि कर्फ्यू का पालन करें ।https://t.co/UOWt7DcWhj

— Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp) March 24, 2020

Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba wrote to chief secretaries of all states on Tuesday to “identify and earmak hospitals dedicated for management of COVID-19 cases and ensure they are fully ready in the event of a further spike in the number of confirmed cases.”

The letter comes on a day when India reported its 10th death due to the COVID-19 disease.

As the Coronavirus-infected cases continues its upward trajectory in the country, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh were among the firsts to set up dedicated hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients.

Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba writes to Chief Secretaries of States.Letter reads "All states should immediately identify&earmark hospitals dedicated for management of COVID19 cases&ensure they are fully ready in the event of a further spike in the number of confirmed cases" pic.twitter.com/ZJwYOlBIJM

— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

On the second day of the lockdown in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Rs.5000 will be paid to construction workers “as their livelihood has been affected” due to coronavirus outbreak, according to PTI.

On Monday, The National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour (NCC-CL), in a letter to Delhi’s CM and Labour Minister demanded transfer of one month’s minimum wage into the bank accounts of all construction workers.

There are 10 lakh construction workers working in Delhi of which only around half of them have been registered with the BOCW Board, according to NCC-CL.