'Fifty IRS officers in a report suggested raising the tax rate to 40% for those with income above Rs 1 crore and levy of wealth tax for those with over Rs 5 crore annual income... The CBDT on Sunday said an inquiry is being initiated against 50 IRS officers of the I-T department who have penned an unsolicited report on revenue mobilisation to fund COVID-19 relief measures and made it public without permission.
'Bringing up the recent death of two Tablighi Jamaat members, who were kept at Delhi’s quarantine centre in Sultanpuri, the Delhi Minorities Commission has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting a probe. The letter which was sent on 24 April states, “Both of the dead belonged to Tamil Nadu and both were diabetic and died due to denial of diabetic medicines and erratic food supply.” While one died on 22 April the other died about ten days before...'
'In this day and age, even the most rational amongst us has entertained the question 'what if I have the novel coronavirus'. Yoga guru and the founder of Patanjali Ayurved, Baba Ramdev has a test that will help assuage your fears. Speaking at an e-Agenda Aaj Tak session Ramdev claimed that anyone who was able to hold their breath for an entire minute was not suffering from the novel coronavirus...'
'At 2 a.m. on Thursday, a young media professional diagnosed with malaria, experienced a sudden spike in fever. But the closest hospital near her Mahim home said told her she should not come in for a consultation till she had a COVID-19 negative report in hand. Scarred by COVID-19 patient encounters that have infected many healthcare workers and have forced some hospitals to shut down, many medical institutions have made it a norm to demand proof of a patient being COVID-19 negative before treatment.
'The Coimbatore police have arrested the founder of SimpliCity, a hyperlocal news portal, for two reports that highlighted shortcomings faced by government healthcare professionals and alleged corruption by some employees of the public distribution system (PDS), making this the first documented case of a media head being jailed during the COVID-19 and lockdown crisis by the authorities for critical reportage. Andrew Sam Raja Pandian was charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Diseases Act after a complaint was filed by M.
'Jamalo Madkam, 12, left her house for the first time two months ago, going with some relatives and friends to work at a chilli farm in Telangana. On Sunday, she returned dead, trying to make her way back amidst the coronavirus lockdown. Officials said the tribal girl died on April 18 due to electrolyte imbalance and exhaustion, having walked for over three days with 13 others, covering over 100 km and dying barely 11 km short of her home in Aded in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh...'
'In the Govandi slums of eastern Mumbai, 27-year-old Anjum Shaikh has heard enough about the coronavirus pandemic to know that she should wash her hands regularly to avoid infection. Yet with no running water to the single-storey structure she calls home, she has few options but to pay a neighbour for access to his tap – for 7 minutes, at 4am, three times a week. “If I don’t wake up in time, I will be left with no water. So, the days when it is my turn to fill water, I just don’t sleep,” she said. Such sleepless nights aren’t Shaikh’s only concern, however.
'Three days after the mob lynching of three men in Palghar, Maharashtra, the emergence of video footage of the brutal attack has given the incident a political colour with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and Hindutva activists on social media using the fact that the victims were Hindu to allege the killings were part of “appeasement politics”. Late evening on April 16, three persons travelling in a Ford EcoSport were attacked by a group of men in Palghar and killed.
'Dr Simon was the Managing Director of New Hope Hospital in Chennai. The 55-year-old neurosurgeon has helped hundreds of patients in his lifetime, and is remembered by people around him as a person who put humanity first. But in his death, Dr Simon was denied the same by residents of the city that he served, thanks to uncontrolled rumours around the spread of COVID-19. In fact, his family couldn’t even say a final goodbye to the doctor, who died due to COVID-19 and likely contracted the disease from patients he was caring for.
'Tension prevailed in Sattenapalle town in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district after a man named Mohammed Ghouse (35) died on Monday after being questioned, and allegedly manhandled by police officers for venturing out during the lockdown. The incident took place at around 8 am, and people in the town are allowed to step out for essentials between 6 am and 9 am. Further, though Ghouse was out well within the designated time period, he was also reportedly buying medicines, which is allowed through the day. After Ghouse passed away, the residents of the town were taking his body in a vehicle.
