INDIA UNDER LOCKDOWN (updated March 29, 2020)
India Statistics stand at 693 (Corona infected including 43 foreigners and 13 dead, 43 Recovered and 637 Active cases) as of today.
Twice the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has addressed the nation within a week’s time. As Covid-19 positive cases spiked sharply in the country, in his first televised address, the PM asked Indians to observe a ‘Janata curfew’ – self isolaton of the 1.4 billion population without the imposition of Section 144 , on sunday, the 22nd March, 2020. One man, one word and the entire Indian nation ground to a standstill as if by magic and the Janta curfew proved to be a grand success. India has had bumper harvests from monsoons (in last three straight years). There is absolutely no food shortage and India tops the world in foodgrain production. So when Prime Minister Modi announced complete lockdown of the nation from 24th midnight, i.e., from 25th morning, for next 21 days, with an intent to stop Corona from spreading like wildfire across the country, there is no panic among the masses because, we are safe and secure in the knowledge that we are adequately and well provided for . India can survive without moving a muscle for another 18 months minimum. Kudos to our farmer community for making this possible, taking care of the food security of the nation.
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/bumper-harvest-wheat-acreage-rises-9-6-so-far/1793565/
The center announced welcome relief package for some 80 crore Indians, a vast majority of our population including rationing of food grains at very nominal/subsidized rates. The present allocation of rations to subsist the masses for next three months if we have reasons to continue with the lockdown. No Indian will be forced to go hungry. No Indian family will be put to hardship because our economy in gradually grinding to a total halt. At this moment, I can say, we are mercifully in strong and good hands. I trust our government and our prime minister to steer us to safety out of this unprecedented crisis that is shaking the world.
“Modi-led government has approved the world’s largest food security scheme to benefit 80 crore people across the country. Out of them, every person will get 7 kg ration per month for the next three months, including wheat at a cost of Rs 2 per kg, instead of Rs 27 per kg; and rice at cost of Rs 3 per kg, instead of Rs 37 per kg,” to put it in a nutshell. I wonder whether first world nations like the US or Canada or even the oil rich Arab nations can pull this mammoth feat. India has a well established, disciplined and managed PDS rationing system which now has enabled smart card operations. India manages Her food distribution chain with exceptional efficiency. One of the best welfare systems in the world anyday. For instance, in my homestate Tamil Nadu, 20 kg rice, Atta, Sugar, Palm Oil, Pulses etc are distributed free or at very nominal prices for every household. Rice comes completely free.
On the economic front, the accounting for financial year 2019-20 has been pushed from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020 by the finance minister Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman, providing a great relief to banks and other financial institutions and businesses. Deadline was also extended for filing Income Tax (IT) and GST returns and for linking PAN with Aadhar for individuals and businesses.
1. Last date for filing GST annual returns of FY 18-19 extended till the last week of June 2020.
2. Last date for filing GSTR-3B due March, April, May 2020 returns and composition returns extended till last week of June 2020.
3. No interest, late fee or penalty for companies with less than Rs. 5 crore turnover; For the bigger companies, interest would be 9 per cent.
4. Last date for opting a composition scheme is extended till the last week of June 2020.
5. Payment date under Sabka Vishwas Scheme extended to June 30, 2020.
Government today announced relief package for the entire nation in view of Corona virus spread in the country.
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The Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan scheme to have two parts — cash transfer and food security :
The Package is for instant relief only. A much awaited stimulus package for the industry and local economy on the way.
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For Organised sector workers:
The Government of India will pay the EPF contribution of both employee and employer for the next three months. This will be for all those establishments which have up to 100 employees, 90% of whom earn less than Rs 15,000 a month.
For Senior citizens, Rural BPL Families, Women and the Disabled:
One time ex-gratia of Rs 2,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizens, poor widows and Divyangs through DBT
20 crore Jan Dhan Women account holders covered- Ex gratia amount of Rs 500 per month for the next three months
Women in self-help groups: 6.3 million SHGs get up to Rs 10 lakh collateral-free loans under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya National Rural Mission scheme. The cap has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh. The move will benefit 70 million households
Beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme: 80 million households benefitted from the gas cylinders provided under the scheme. These beneficiaries will get free cylinders for three months in view of the disruption the coronavirus lockdown will cause.
Coronavirus lockdown package for poor: MGNREGA Wage increased from Rs 182 to Rs 202 per day. MGREGA is India’s minimum rural employment guarantee scheme.
For Farmers:
First instalment of the PM-KISAN payment of Rs 2,000 to be frontloaded; move to benefit 87 million
Package to directly reach out to the poor:
— Relief package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore
— Medical insurance cover of 50 lakh rupees per health worker
80 cr (some 800 million) poor people (BPL families) to get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months through Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana during lockdown . This is in addition to the 5 kg they already get.
Additionally, each household to get 1 kg of preferred dal for free for the next three months
Rs 50 lakh insurance per health care worker as a medical insurance cover for them for three month.
Some links in support of the above:
India is also helping the SAARC nations fight the spread of Coronavirus with free medical and material supplies to the tune of 1 million US$
Chennai streets sprayed with disinfectants since last two weeks.
Indian government has banned export of masks and hand sanitizers.
Tamil Nadu state govt announced double pay for the medical fraternity as well as sanitary workers employed with govt hospitals and civic administrations.
Indian govt has approved the first Made-in-India test kit within record 6 weeks for coronavirus.
Over 50 private laboratories have been roped in by government to test for the coronavirus. Here is the list:
MAHARASHTRA
Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur
SRL Religare Laboratory, Gaiwadi Industrial Estate, S.V. Road, Goregaon 
Mumbai
Dr Lal Path Lab
Metropolis Healthcare Ltd – Global Reference Laboratory, Vidyavihar, Mumbai (Will be ready by 23 March 2020)
Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, Bhandarkar Institute Road, Pune (Will be ready by 23 March 2020)
SRL Dignostic Laboratory, Dr Avinash Phadake Laboratory, Mahim,Mumbai
AG. Dignostic Lab Pvt.Ltd.Pune
Apollo Hospital, Nashik 31. Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai
SRL Limited, Sector-4, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai
SRL Ltd-CoE Histopath Mahim
SRL Limited, Hiranandani Fortis Hospital, 5th Floor, Mini Seashore Road, Sector-10, Vashi, Navi Mumbai
SRL Ltd, Fortis Hospital, Mulund-Goregaon Link Road, Mulund, Mumbai
SRL Diagnostics –Dr. Avinash Phadke (SRL Diagnostics Private Limited), for its facilities at Dadar,Mahim & Andheri
N M Medical Centre, Mumbai
DELHI
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi
Dang Lab
Dr Lal Path Lab
SRL Limited, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla Road, New DelhiFortis Hospital, A Block Shalimar Bagh, Delhi
SRL Ltd, Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
Lifeline Diagnostics, Green Park, Delhi
Oncquest Laboratories Ltd, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi-110029
Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, Mohan Co-operative Industrial Estate, Mathura Road, New Delhi (Will be ready by 23 March 2020)
KERALA
National Institute of Virology Field Unit
Govt. Medical College, Kozhikode
Govt. Medical College, Thrissur
Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
DDRC –SRL Diagnostics Private Limited, Gandhi Nagar, Kottayam-686008, Kerala & Amalagiri P.O., Ammencherry, Kottayam, Kerala
DDRC SRL Diagnostics Private Limited, Ground Floor, Aster Square, Medical College P.O., Trivandrum-695011, Kerala
DDRC SRL Diagnostics Private Limited., Ernakulam G 131,DDRC SRL Tower Ernakulam-682036 Kerala
EI LAB Metropolis, North square build, Paramara road, Cochin(Will be ready by 1 April 2020)
KARNATAKA
National Institute of Virology Field Unit Bangalore
Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan
Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore
Shimoga Inst. of Med. Sciences, Shivamogga
Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore
SRL Limited, Bangalore Reference lab, Next to Jal Bhavan, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore
SRL Limited, Fortis Hospital Limited, 14, Cunningham Road, Bangalore, Karnataka
SRL Limited, Fortis Hospitals Limited, 154/9, Bannerghatta Road, Opp. IIM, Bangalore
SRL Ltd, FortisHospital, #23,Gurukrupa Layout ,800 feet road, Nagarbhavi, Bangalore
SRL Diagnostics Private Limited for its facilities at 51, Chintal Plaza, 10th Main Road, 33rd Cross, IV Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore
NEUBERG ANAND Lab, Shivaji Nagar, Bangalore
RV Metropolis Main Lab, 76/10, 15th Cross. 4th Main. Malleshwaram, Bengaluru (Will be ready by 1 April 2020)
UTTAR PRADESH
Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh
Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
King’s George Medical University, Lucknow
SRL Ltd, B1/12, Vipul Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
SRL Limited, Fortis Hospital, B-22, Sector-62, Noida
RAJASTHAN
Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar
SP Med. College, Bikaner
Dr. S.N Medical College, Jodhpur
Sawai Man Singh, Jaipur
RNT Medical College, Udaipur
TAMIL NADU
Govt. Medical college, Thiruvaru
Government Medical College, Theni
King’s Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai
Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai
Apollo Greams Lane, Chennai
Apollo Hospitals, Madurai
SRL Limited, AB-46, First Street, 6th Main Road,Anna Nagar Chennai
Neuberg Ehrlich Lab, Royapettah, Chennai
Lister Metropolis Nungambakam, Chennai (will be ready by 23 March)
UTTARAKHAND
Government Medical College, Haldwani
WEST BENGAL
IPGMER, Kolkata
National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata
Apollo Gleneagles Hospital
SRL Limited Reference laboratory, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal
SRL Limited, Fortis Hospital, 730, Anandapur, E.M. Bypass Road, Kolkata
Suraksha Diagnostics, New Town, Kolkata
Medica Super Specialty Hospital, Kolkata
MADHYA PRADESH
All India Institute Medical Sciences, Bhopal
National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur
SRL Ltd, 34/2 New Palasia, Behind Industry House, Indore
GUJARAT
MP Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar
BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad
Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad
Neuberg Supratech, Ahmedabad
Desai Metropolis Health Services Pvt. Ltd., Near Mahavir Cardiac Hospital, Athwagate, Surat(Will be ready by 1 April 2020)
Sanjeevani Metropolis, Safal -3, Swami Vivekanand Road, Opp. Commissioner Bunglow, Rajkot(Will be ready by 1 April 2020)
HARYANA
Pt BD Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak
BPS Govt Medical College, Sonipat
SRL Limited, Clinical Reference Lab, Udyog Vihar,Sector-18, Gurgaon
SRL Limited, FEHRC, Neelam Bata Road, NIT, Faridabad
Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI),Sector 44,Gurgaon
SRL Limited 416, Ashoka Colony, Opposite Kalpana Chawla Medical College, Karnal-132001
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Kangra
SRL Ltd, Zonal hospital, Mandi, Room No 813, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
SRL Ltd, OPD NO. 3, Dr RPGMC, Tanda, Dist Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
SRL Ltd. Indira Gandhi Medical College IGMC Shimla Dist Shimla, HP-171001
SRL Ltd. C/o Regional Hospital Hamirpur, Dist Hamirpur-177001 H.P
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Government Medical College, Srinagar
Government Medical College, Jammu
Sher-e- Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar
Dr Lal Path Lab, B C Road Jammu
JHARKHAND
MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur
MANIPUR
Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
JN Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, Imphal
MEGHALAYA
NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong
ASSAM
Silchar Medical College, Silchar
Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh
Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati
Jorhat Medical College, Jorhat
SRL Diagnostics – Skylab Assam
SRL Limited-Magpins Diagnostics, Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh
PUDUCHERRY
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry
ODISHA
Regional Medical Research Center, Bhubaneswar
Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar
BIHAR
Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna
SRL Reach Limited,Sadar HospitalCampus,At Court More, Dhanbad
PUNJAB
Government Medical College, Amritsar
Government Medical College, Patiala
SRL Ltd, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Majitha Verka Byepass Road, Amritsar
SRL Limited, STREET Mundian, C/O Radhaswamysatsang, Beas, Fortis Hospital Building, Chandigarh Road, city Ludhiana, Punjab -141001
Fortis Hospital, Sector-62, Phase-8, Mohali, Punjab
TELANGANA
Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad
Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad
Apollo Hyderguda, Hyderabad
SRL Ltd.Legend Crystal Shop No.06,Ground Floor,Plot No.1-7-79/A&B,Prenderghast Road,Secunderabad,500003
SRL Limitedc/o Ambicare Clinics Kondapur Hyderabad
Medics Labs, New Bowenpally, Secunderabad
TRIPURA
Government Medical College, Agartala
ANDHRA PRADESH
Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada
Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam
Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati
GMC, Anantapur
Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada
CHANDIGARH
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh
SRL Limited, S.C.O-24, Sector-11 D, Chandigarh
CHHATTISGARH
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur
Dr Lal Path lab, Raipur
SRL Diagnostics lab, Raipur
ANDAMAN and NICOBAR ISLANDS
Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar
India is fighting on all fronts the Novel Corona Virus Pandemic. We shall break the chain. We shall flatten the curve. With resolve and restrain as PM Modi vowed. Right now, India is at Stage 2. It is the duty and responsibility of every Indian citizen to ensure that the infection does not reach the Stage 3 Community level wherefrom things can go out of hands very quickly leading to a dreadful situation of chaos and confusion and even complete breakdown of the medical system of the entire country. Let’s stay put at home socially distancing ourselves and contain the spread of Covid-19. This is ‘do or die’ for each of us and for our beloved nation. We could be in here for a long haul until the vaccines arrive. Loads of patience and prayers the need of the hour. Will continue to update with latest developments.
UPDATED; 27TH MARCH, 2020
India pledged with member nations of G20, to jointly inject funds to the tune of 5 trillion $ into global economy to counter the social and economic impact of COVID-19. Leaders of the states also agreed to contribute to the WHO led COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on individual basis.
PM Modi attended last evening the extraordinary virtual G20 summit where global leaders united to combat and eradicate the novel coronavirus pandemic that has raised the very existential question of entire mankind.
Reserve Bank of India, the RBI, has announced massive reforms as well to keep the wheels of the Indian economy oiled and rolling.
RBI announced this morning, a rate cut of 0.75% to ensure liquidity.
RBI also announced EMI freezing of homeloans for 3 months
Credit card payments may be deferred by 3 months
Sensex has since rebounded on RBI announcement.
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