The Darjeeling tea industry on Saturday said it has almost lost its first flush production in the wake of the ongoing lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a financial crunch for garden owners as the premium variety contribues 40 per cent of the annual revenue of the planters. The first flush accounts for 20 per cent of the 8 million kg annual production in the hills, Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) chairman Binod Mohan said. “The condition is very bad. The first flush is almost wiped out,” he told PTI. DTA”s former chairman Ashok Lohia said the entire first…
Author: Our Correspondent
The Prime Minister has appealed to the people to voluntarily switch off their lights between 9:00 p.m to 9:09 pm on the 5th of April. Union Ministry of Power in a statement here today has said that some apprehensions have been expressed that this may cause instability in the grid and fluctuation in voltage which may harm the electrical appliances. Dispelling these apprehensions, Ministry of Power has said that they are misplaced. The Ministry has emphasised that Indian electricity grid is robust and stable and adequate arrangements and protocols are in place to handle the variation in demand. The Power…
In a drive against those who violate the nationwide lockdown in the district, police here will register cases against them and deliver copies of the FIRs at their homes, a senior official said on Saturday. SSP Abhishek Yadav told reporters here that the violators will not be arrested during the first instance but police will arrest those found to be violating the lockdown for the second time. Police has started the drive in every street of the district under which cases will be lodged against those found violating the lockdown restrictions imposed across the country and the copies of the…
In yet another relief to taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the validity of forms 15G and 15H by three months to June 30, 2020 and prevent banks from deducting TDS on interest income of individuals. As per an order issued by the CBDT late on Friday, if a person has submitted valid forms 15G and 15H to the banks and other institutions for financial year 2019-20, then these forms will be valid up to June 30 for FY2020-21 also. The banks, however, would have to report payment or credits in the TDS statement for quarter…
Shah Rukh Khan, who recently announced a bunch of initiatives to help fight the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, has also offered his and Gauri’s personal office to be turned into a quarantine facility in Mumbai. On Saturday morning, the official Twitter handle of BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) tweeted the news and thanked both Shah Rukh and his wife Gauri Khan for the gesture. “Stronger together. We thank Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan for offering their 4-storey personal office space to help expand our quarantine capacity equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women and elderly. Indeed a thoughtful and…
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Rehman Malik has urged the UN to form a high-powered commission to probe if the COVID-19 was a man-made or a naturally grown virus and also to locate its origin, a media report said on Saturday. In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Malik, also a former Interior Minister, said the proposed commission on COVID-19 under the UN Convention on Biological Weapons, 1975 might comprise virologists, scientists, professors, researchers, analysts and experts in the fields of microbiology, reports Dawn news. Making the letter public at a press conference through a video link, Malik…
Unidentified gunmen attacked two Afghan Presidential Protective Service (PPS) members, killing one and injuring the other on the outskirts of capital Kabul, an official confirmed on Saturday. The incident took place at about 8.20 p.m. on Friday, after the gunmen opened fire on two Afghan officers, killing Qeyamuddin Maqsudi and wounding his colleague, Marwa Amini, deputy spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told Xinhua news agency. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing. The police has launched investigation into the incident. In July 2019, a senior PPS officer Gen. Abdul Ghaffar died days after being injured in a roadside mine…
Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Friday visited the Stanley Hospital here and checked the functions of ‘robotic nurses’ deployed in corona wards. Now technology proves the connection between food and medicine. From serving food at upmarket restaurants, robots are now being deployed to serve medicine to COVID-19 patients in Tamil Nadu in an attempt to reduce the infection risk for nurses. Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Friday visited the Stanley Hospital here and checked the functions of ‘robotic nurses’ deployed in corona wards.He said the robotic nurses can serve food and medicine to COVID-19 patients. This…
Four militants who may have been involved in three civilian deaths earlier in the week, were killed and three soldiers were also injured in a gunfight on Saturday in J&K’s Kulgam district, police said. All four militants killed in the gun battle with the security forces in Hardmanguri Batpora village belonged to Damhal Hanjipora area of the same district. “The encounter has ended. Bodies of four slain militants have been recovered. Three army soldiers sustained injuries in this operation. “One soldier sustained a bullet injury while two sustained splinter injuries. The injured have been shifted to hospital,” the police said.…
Nizamuddin’s Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Mohd. Saad Kandhalvi has admitted that the crime branch of Delhi Police has issued a notice to him along with a questionnaire. Maulana Saad’s son and Jamaat Committee member Mohd. Yusuf Saad gave a written statement. According to Yusuf the statement was drafted in consultation with the Maulana. “Media reports about the Jamaat headquarters since March 31 are only a part of conspiracy and attempt to defame the Markaz. Tablighi Jamaat doesn’t have any connection with any political party,” the statement read with the acceptance that the crime branch has registered a case against Maulana…