Govt. hikes excise duty on petrol by ₹10 per litre, diesel by ₹13 per litre
Retail prices of petrol and diesel will not be impacted by the tax changes as state-owned oil firms will adjust them against the recent fall in oil prices, industry officials said.
Coronavirus | India registers highest surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths in 24-hours
Explaining the rise in cases, Joint Secretary in the Ministry Lav Agarwal said, “We persuaded certain States, which were not updating regularly to release their backlog, which has resulted in a spike in numbers.”
Two Navy ships headed to Maldives, two to UAE for evacuation
Amphibious vessels INS Jalashwa and INS Magar are headed to Maldives while INS Shardul and INS Airavat set sail to the UAE. INS Jalashwa is set to reach Maldives on May 8 and INS Magar is scheduled to reach on May 10, a defence source said.
Coronavirus | Telangana government extends lockdown till May 29
At a press conference, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said the decision to extend lockdown was taken irrespective of the Central government date for the same till May 17 for more effective implementation of restrictions to tackle COVID-19.
COVID-19 | State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates
The charts are updated based on a combination of numbers reported by the central Health Ministry, and updates from the State governments and Health departments
Coronavirus | Madhya Pradesh caught between pandemic and penury
The stringent lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 outbreak has had a crippling impact on the economy of Madhya Pradesh, where tax collection — SGST and IGST put together — dropped by close to 85% in April.
Detention of Mehbooba Mufti, two J&K leaders extended by three months
In a similar move, the detention of former minister and senior National Conference leader Ali Mohammed Sagar, and senior PDP leader and uncle of Mufti, Sartaj Madani, was also extended by another three months, officials said.
TRF is a ploy by Pakistan to evade scrutiny, says J&K’s DGP
Security forces say there is nothing alarming about The Resistance Front (TRF) as all attacks carried out by the Pakistan backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are being pinned on the newly formed “seasonal” group in order to escape international scrutiny.
Ousted whistleblower says Trump health official played down coronavirus threat
Rick Bright says in the complaint filed with a government watchdog that he warned about the virus in January and was met with hostility from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and other high-ranking officials in the agency.
Pfizer, BioNTech begin virus vaccine trial
The U.S. drugmaker and German partner said if the vaccine proves to be safe and effective in trials, it could potentially be ready for wide U.S. distribution by the end of the year, shaving several years off the typical vaccine development timeline.
Trump says coronavirus task force will wind down as focus shifts to reopening
“Mike Pence and the task fore have done a great job,” Mr. Trump said during a factory visit in Arizona. “But we're now looking at a little bit of a different form and that form is safety and opening and we'll have a different group probably set up for that.”
U.S., U.K. launch video trade talks, pledge quick work in post-Brexit era
The talks, to be conducted virtually, will involve over 300 U.S. and U.K. staff and officials in nearly 30 negotiating groups, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.K. Trade Minister Liz Truss said in a joint statement.
