(Contains Press releases concerning Covid-19, issued in last 24 hours, inputs from field offices, and Fact checks undertaken by PIB)

Updates on COVID-19 from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

A total of 18,601 confirmed cases are reported for COVID-19 in the country. As many as 3252 persons i.e. 17.48% of total cases have been cured/discharged after recovery. A total of 590 deaths have been reported so far due to COVID-19.There are now 61 additional districts from 23 States/UT that have not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 Days.CSIR is launching a randomized, blinded, two arms, active comparator-controlled clinical trial to evaluate drug efficacy to reduce mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients.Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare has written to the Health Departments of all States/UTs to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks.

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Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘COVID India Seva’, an interactive platform for citizen engagement on COVID-19

This initiative is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and answering citizen queries swiftly, at scale, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Through this, people can pose queries @CovidIndiaSeva and get them responded to in almost real time. @CovidIndiaSeva works off a dashboard at the backend that helps process large volumes of tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution.

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Union Government directs West Bengal not to obstruct working of Central Teams regarding review and on-spot assessment of implementation of Lockdown measures to fight COVID19 in the State

The Union Government has directed Government of West Bengal not to obstruct working of Central Teams reg. review and on-spot assessment of implementation of Lockdown measures to fight COVID19 in the State.It had been brought to the notice of MHA that both the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs), at Kolkata and Jalpaiguri respectively, have not been provided with the requisite co-operation by the State and local authorities. It was informed that they have been specifically restrained from making any visits, interacting with health professionals, and assessing the ground level situation.

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Under PM-KISAN Scheme,Rs. 17,793 crores released for 8.89 crore farmer families during the lockdown

Under the PradhanMantriKisanSammanNidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme during the lockdown period from 24.3.2020 till date, about 8.89 crore farmer families have been benefitted and an amount of Rs. 17,793 crore has been released so far.In order to provide food security during the prevailing situation due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has decided to distribute pulses to the eligible households under PradhanMantriGaribKalyanYojana (PM-GKY). About 107,077.85 MT pulses have so far been issued to the States/UTs.

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Rs. 481.63 Crores disbursed to 40,826 members by exempted PF trusts under PMGKY

The provision for a special withdrawal from the EPF Scheme to tide over the COVID -19 pandemic is part of the PradhanMantriGareebKalyan Yojna (PMGKY) Scheme announced by Government. Exempted PF trusts have risen to the occasion amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As on the forenoon of 17.04.2020, Rs. 481.63 crores (Rs. 481,63,76,714) have been disbursed to 40,826 PF Members as advance.

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PM greets Civil Servants and pays tributes to Sardar Patel on Civil Services Day

On the occasion of the Civil Services Day, Prime Minister said “Today, on Civil Services Day I convey greetings to all Civil Servants and their families. I appreciate their efforts in ensuring India successfully defeats COVID-19. They are working round the clock, assisting those in need and ensuring everyone is healthy.”

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Dr. Jitendra Singh commends the yeomen services rendered by Civil Servants in India’s fight against COVID-19 on Civil Services Day

Calling for greater inter-service camaraderie, citing the successful example of the CARUNA platform which brings together 29 service associations in an endeavour to support natural disasters, Dr. Singh in a video interaction complemented the civil servants for their support to Government’s COVID 19 relief operations by offering one day salary to the Prime Minister’s Cares Fund. He said that District Collectors have been leading the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic and India’s prospects to contain the pandemic rested on the broad shoulders of civil servants.

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India and Afghanistan will combat COVID-19 together, with solidarity and shared resolve says PM

The Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi today said India and Afghanistan will combat COVID-19 together, with solidarity and shared resolve.PM Modi was responding to a tweet from Afghanistan President Dr. Ashraf Ghani, who expressed his gratitude towards India for providing essential medicines hydroxychloroquine, paracetamol and other items to Afghanistan.

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Smt. NirmalaSitharaman attends the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of New Development Bank

Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs attended the 5^th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of New Development Bank through video-conference in New Delhi. On the discussion of COVID-19, Smt. Sitharaman appreciated NDB’s effort on fast tracking of financial assistance of about $5 billion to BRICS countries including Emergency Assistance of $1 billion India to combat COVID-19 pandemic. She also suggested that, assistance under this facility to be enhanced to $10 billion.

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Surplus rice to be converted to ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and for blending inPetrol

A meeting of NBCC was held today under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas ShriDharmendraPradhan, wherein it was approved that the surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) may be converted to ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and in blending for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme.

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Effective date for implementation of Approved Lists of Models and Manufacturers of Solar PV Modules and Solar PV Cells extendedto 30.09-2020

Ministry of New &Renewable Energy(MNRE)has recently issued office memorandum extending the effective dates for implementation of Approved Lists of Models & Manufacturers (ALMM) for Solar PV modulesand Solar PV cells to 30^th September 2020, which was earlier 31.03.2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic.

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MNRE Grants Extension for RE Projects considering disruption on account of lockdown due to COVID-19 for a period of 30 Days beyond lockdown

Ministry of New and Renewable Energyhas said that the Renewable Energy implementing agencies may grant extension of time for RE projects, on account of lockdown due to COVID-19, equivalent to the period of lockdown and additional 30 (thirty) days for normalisation after end of such lockdown.

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Functioning of the Benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal will remain suspended till 03.05.2020.

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Lifeline Udan flights support Covid-19 fight by delivering over 541 tons of medical cargo across the country

316 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers during Covid-19 lockdown, carrying around 541.33 tons of cargo. Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 3,14,965 km. Helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients. Till 20 April 2020 it has carried 1.90 tons of cargo covering a distance of 6537 kms.

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E-mails for facilitating faster refund cannot be misconstrued as harassment: CBDT
The Central Board of Direct Taxes responding to some observations being circulated on social media alleging that the Income Tax Department is pursuing recovery proceedings and using arm-twisting methods by adjusting outstanding demands of the start-ups, has stated that these observations are completely unfounded and are total misrepresentation of facts.

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Local administrations at district and village levels continue taking various measures to check the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country
Measures include preliminary testing of local people; creating checkposts for medical screening of persons entering and leaving the area; regular sanitization of public places and creating quarantine centres; regular inspection of procurement centres

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FCI moved 2 vessels to Andaman & Nicobar Islands and 7 smaller vessels to Lakshadweep Islands to maintain food grain supply during the lockdown

Maintaining continuous supply of food grains to the islands of Andaman & Nicobar as well as Lakshadweep during the lockdown period is being handled by Food Corporation of India with full vigor over the last 27 days. In last 27 days, about 6500 MT food grains moved to Andaman & Nicobar, more than double the monthly average, and 1750 MT to Lakshadweep, almost thrice the monthly average

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Ministry of Tribal Affairs takes up various proactive measures in view of Pandemic COVID-19

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has taken up various proactive measures for implementation as part of the process to save tribal persons from Pandemic Corona Virus (Covid-19) and to restore growth in the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant movement restrictions.

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Union HRD Minister chairs review meeting on SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha

Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' held a detailed review of the National online education platform SWAYAM and the 32 DTH Television Education Channels SWAYAM PRABHA. 1902 courses are available currently in SWAYAM, which have been offered to 1.56 cr. students since launch.SWAYAM PRABHA is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programmes on 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.

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PIBFactCheck tweets five items today carrying the official version

In order to check the spread of fake news on social media and following observations of the Supreme Court, PIB set up a dedicated unit to bust rumours getting viral on the social media. ‘PIBFactCheck’ is a verified handle on Twitter that continuously monitors trending messages on social media platforms and conducts comprehensive review of its contents to bust fake news.

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“Let Rotarians come forward to assist in involving more people in the fight against COVID-19 ” – Dr. Harsh Vardhan

“I really value Rotarians having given a great contribution in our fight against COVID-19. In fact the contribution is appreciable in terms of PM CARES contribution, equipment, sanitizers food, PPE kits and N95 masks etc. for hospitals.” Union Health Minister stated this while interacting with the Rotarians across the country through Video Conferencing (VC) with an aim to involve them to assist in involving more and more concerned people in the fight against COVID-19.

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Over 25,000 COVID 19 related Portal Grievances have been redressed in the last 20 days, beginning from 1st of April: Dr.Jitendra Singh

On the National Monitoring Dashboard (https://darpg.gov.in) in the grievance portal, an exclusive window was introduced for COVID related grievances as a result of which, any grievance related to COVID got directly registered, to be accordingly followed up by the concerned.

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Standing by Delhi Police, Railways make arrangements to provide 10000 water bottles per day to Delhi Police personnel on COVID duty

As the summer heat increases, Indian Railways with the help of its PSU IRCTC starts providing Rail Neer water bottles to Policemen stationed at Road Naakas and other places in war against COVID. Till now more than 50000 bottles have been distributed; Arrangements to continue till May 3

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Pune’s mobile App Saiyam tracks Home Quarantined Citizens

In order to effectively track the home-quarantines citizens and ensure they are actually staying in the home, a mobile application named Saiyam has been developed by the Pune Municipal Corporation under Smart Cities Mission (SCM).

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Central PSU of Power Ministry REC steps up relief work amidst lockdown to curb Covid-19 Pandemic

REC Limited, a Navratna CPSE is distributing cooked food, ration, utility packets, masks, sanitizers and even providing shelter during the lockdown benefiting 76,000 daily wagers and their families till date. REC Foundation has already sanctioned funds totalling ₹ 7 crores for these activities and more such funds are already in the pipeline.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Administration has decided to provide 6670 registered construction workers an amount of Rs.3000/- as a special relief, keeping in view their present unemployment during the lockdown period. This amount will be in addition to Rs.3000/- already sanctioned earlier out of Construction Labour Welfare Fund. The amount will be transferred to the accounts of the workers directly. The Chandigarh Administrator has directed that a special camp be held exclusively for testing of the media personnel to prevent any chance of infection.
• Punjab: To make people aware of detailed information related to COVID-19, the Information and Public Relations Department Punjab has launched whatsapp bot and chatbot on Facebook. In line with his decision not to ease the state-wide curfew despite the relaxations allowed by the Centre, Punjab Chief Minister clarified that industrial units being permitted to function in non-containment zones would be required to align to the state government’s earlier orders, as also the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Haryana: Chief Minister, Mr. ManoharLal said that it is the aim of State Government to ensure each eligible beneficiary in the State gets the benefits of all welfare policies and programmes of the government. 8,693 farmers reported at the 163 Procurement Centres for procurement of mustard in the State and 9,729 Wheat farmers reported at the Wheat Procurement Centres.
• Himachal Pradesh: The state government started a unique initiative called “eSanjeevaniOPD” where people sitting at their homes can get Health-related guidance from doctors. The URL of the portal is – “esanjeevaniopd.in”.
• Kerala: Triple lockdown is being implemented from today in Kannur (Red Zone) due to increased traffic on road. Some of the lockdown relaxations rolled back in two Green Zone districts-Kottayam&Idukki. A 62 year old woman in Pathanamthitta not cured even after 42 days; 19 tests done till now have come positive.
• Tamil Nadu:  Following local residents violently opposing burial of a doctor who died of Covid in Chennai, CM issues statement assuring all governmental support to front-line staff in the fight against the pandemic. 26 colleagues of Covid +ve journalist of a Tamil TV Channel test positive. Total cases till yesterday: 1520, Deaths: 17, Discharged:457, Active cases:1043. Chennai (290) & Coimbatore(133) report maximum cases.
• Karnataka: Today 7 new cases confirmed: Vijayapura 3,  Kalburgi 3 &Dakshin Kannada 1. Total confirmed Covid cases: 415, Deaths: 17, Cured and discharged: 117.
• Andhra Pradesh: 35 new cases in the last 24 hours; total cases reach 757.  Total Deaths: 22,   Cured: 96 Active cases:  639. State on high alert over rapid increase in +ve cases in Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna& Nellore districts. CM announces financial aid of Rs 5000 each to temple priests, imams & pastors. Districts leading in +ve cases: Kurnool (184), Guntur (158), Krishna (83), Nellore (67), Chittoor (53).

• Telangana: Two Rohingya refugees from Telangana who attended the Delhi TJ meeting test positive for Covid.  Total number of cases reach 874. Health authorities in State decide not to take samples from the bodies of those suspected to have died of Covid-19. A research proposal from an NIT, Warangal Academic, to study effect of temperature & humidity on Corona virus, has made it to a public private effort led by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) to understand the virus and help develop vaccines.
• Arunachal Pradesh: DC Itanagar bans bringing and selling of vegetables from Red and Orange zones in the state.
• Assam: Health Minister, HimantaBiswaSarma tweeted that the state government will begin Rapid Antibody tests starting from Spanish Garden- a containment zone in Guwahati from April 22nd.
• Manipur: Government issues order for maximum attendance of 33 percent of staff upto the rank of Under Secretaries.
• Mizoram: Over 40,000 beneficiaries of Mizoram Building & Other Constitution Workers Welfare Board have received Rs.3000 each during lockdown through DBT system.
• Nagaland: CISF personnel of DHEP, Doyang distributed ration & essential items to needy people of Doyang Village under Wokha district.
• Sikkim: State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation ltd (SIMFED) launched Mobile Ration Van in Gangtok to deliver essential items to each household amid lockdown.
• Tripura: In Tripura, evaluation of answer sheets of class 10th and 12th  Board examination to start from 24th April.
• Maharashtra: Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra have surged to 4,676 with 472 new cases reported till now. Two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams are on visit to make on-spot assessment of situation and issue necessary directions to State Authorities for its redressal. Meanwhile, 53 journalists who have tested positive in Mumbai have been placed under isolation in a suburban hotel.
• Gujarat: In Gujarat, SardarVallabhbhai Patel Institute in Ahmedabad has signed anMoU with the Indian Council of Medical Research to carry out study on the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma to limit coronavirus-associated complications in a patient. 
• Rajasthan: The Rajasthan government has stopped using the Made in China rapid testing kits for coronavirus, after they delivered inaccurate results. The state's Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy.   83 new Covid 19 cases have been reported in Rajasthan today, taking total number of positive cases in the state to 1659 now.

Fact Check on #Covid19

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