Announcing measures to spice up the country’s domestic aviation sector, minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said steps are going to be taken to form the country a hub for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of aircraft. “Not just civil aircraft but defence aircraft also can enjoy the MRO if we make India an enormous hub … Maintenance cost for all airlines will come down which again will have a ripple effect on passengers. Travellers can probably pay less then ,” she said. The announcement was made by Sitharaman as a part of the fourth tranche of stimulus measures…
Author: Our Correspondent
The Italian government has signed a decree that will allow travel to and from the country from June 3, as it moves to ease its coronavirus lockdown measures, it was reported on Saturday. The decree was signed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday and published early on Saturday, the BBC reported. It will also allow travel between the regions, which has so far been tightly restricted, from the same day. Italy, one of the worst affected nations in the world, was the first country in Europe to impose nationwide restrictions when coronavirus cases began to surface in northern regions…
The India Meteorological Department on Saturday predicted that the depression in Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify rapidly into a cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours and further into a severe cyclonic storm in subsequent 24 hours. Pursuant to that, cyclonic storm ”Amphan” is likely to move north-north-westwards initially till May 17 (Sunday) and then re-curve north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal towards West Bengal coast during May 18-20, said Ananda Das, Scientist at Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre. The weather department has warned of adverse weather in the Andaman Sea and along and off Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and…
US President Donald Trump has lauded Indian-American scientists and researchers for their efforts in developing medicines and vaccines to treat the deadly coronavirus. President Trump said the US was closely working with India to tackle the pandemic. “We have a tremendous Indian population in the United States and many of the people that you are talking about are working on the vaccine too. Great scientists and researchers,” Donald Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. He was responding to the Indian-American community’s appreciation of his fight against the coronavirus. This is the first time…
The Allahabad High Court on Friday allowed the recitation of ‘azan’ (prayer) by a single individual in Uttar Pradesh mosques but without using any loudspeaker during the COVID-19 lockdown. A bench of justices Shashi Kant Guipta and Ajit Kumar granted the relief to the Muslim community saying that “Azan may be an essential and integral part of Islam” but its “recitation through loudspeakers or other sound amplifying devices cannot be said to be an integral part of the religion.” The bench gave its ruling on a bunch of pleas, including those of former Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Lok Sabha…
Ten central trade unions on Friday gave a call for a nationwide strike on May 22 to protest against the suspension of labour laws by some states during the lockdown period, and also decided to take the matter to International Labour Organization (ILO). “The joint platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) in their meeting held on May 14, took note of the critical situation for the working people in the country during the lockdown period and decided to enhance united actions to meet the challenge,” a statement by 10 CTUs said. “The joint platform has decided to observe nationwide protest…
The government has turned the pandemic crisis to good account by pushing through long-sought legislative changes aimed at more remunerative prices for farmers, but at the risk of antagonising the states. The changes included amending the archaic Essential Commodities Act, bringing in a law to dismantle inter-state barriers on movements of agricultural produce, and creating a legal framework for a kind of contract farming. The Centre will have to wait for Parliament’s monsoon session or bring in Ordinances on these. The Centre, perhaps for the first time, has decided to frame legislation that will enable direct purchase from farmers outside…
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal locked horns on Thursday over the return of stranded workers, with the CM announcing 105 trains to bring them home and therefore the BJP leader accusing the government of not taking adequate measures. Bringing back migrant labourers and stranded people to Bengal has snowballed into a serious political issue, with the opposition BJP and therefore the refore the Union government rapping the state for not doing enough and the Trinamool Congress denying it. “Towards our commitment to helping all our people stuck in several parts of the country and…
Cabin crew members of Indian airlines will have personal protective equipment (PPE) like face shields, gowns and masks as a part of their attire on commercial passenger flights once they resume operations, industry sources said. India is under a lockdown since Annunciation to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and every one scheduled commercial passenger flights remain suspended. Airlines like IndiGo, Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India have decided to travel with the new attire to make sure safety of cabin crew members as they’re in close proximity to passengers during flights, the sources said. This would be almost like…
Even as several congested areas in Pune city became COVID-19 hotspots, but slum pocket of Janata Vasahat has managed to fight the virus with coordinated efforts of its residents and authorities. Situated along Sinhgad Road, Janata Vasahat is cover two to three km area and features a total population of 60,000. The locality has only reported two cases of COVID-19 thus far , and therefore the Pune Municipal Corporation plans to stay it that way. Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad attributed the success of controlling the spread to containment measures undertaken by the civic body and therefore the geographical location…