New COVID-19 cases in India cross the 800/day mark

Even as discussions about the continuation of the national lockdown continues, India has seen a record number of new COVID-19 patients in the last 24 hours. According to various crowd-sourced data sources, a total of 809 new cases of Coronavirus infections were reported in the last 24 hours (official confirmation expected today afternoon). This is […]

RISING COVID-19 CASES: Is India’s lock-down a total failure?

The first case of COVID-19 in India was reported 67 days ago on January 30 in Kerala. It was only after 55 days that India imposed a countrywide lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading. In those 55 days, the Coronavirus infected around 500 people — at an average rate of 9 new infections per […]

Kerala Govt body starts online delivery of grocery

Kerala State Co-operative Consumers’ Federation Ltd, popularly known as ConsumerFed, has started online ordering of grocery kits, starting with the Ernakulam district. The government-controlled body, however, is yet to scale up deliveries, and is accepting only 100 orders per day. Moreover, orders are currently being delivered only out of the Kakkanad depot, in an around […]

Supreme Court asks Karnataka to allow goods flow to Kerala

Supreme Court of India today refused to stay an order by Kerala High Court directing Karnataka to open all its roads to Kerala for essential traffic. Karnataka had, a week ago, closed all the major roads from Kasargode district in Kerala — a major Coronavirus hotspot with around 150 COVID-19 cases. Karnataka government dumped truckloads […]

Kerala High Court stays order to provide alcohol to addicts

Kerala High Court has stayed a government of Kerala order allowing the sales of alcohol to anyone who produces a doctor’s prescription for the same. A civil supplies department official had issued directions to liquor dispensing agencies instructing them to provide liquor in case a person came with a doctor’s prescription for the same. At […]

LIVE TABLE – CORONAVIRUS CASES IN INDIA: Maharashtra in front; UP, TN grows

Maharashtra has emerged as the lead state in India as far as Coronavirus infections are concerned, going by an analysis of the details of state-wise COVID-19 cases in India (see table). While the numbers are changing every hour, as of April 3 Friday, Maharashtra continued to remain on the top with 423 cases and 21 […]

Employers instigate migrant laborers to protest in Kerala

A day after Uttar Pradesh government sent dozens of buses to transport migrant workers from Delhi to their hometowns, migrant workers in Kerala defied the Coronavirus lockdown to hold a massive protest in Payippad in Changanassery in Kerala. Hundreds of outstation workers belonging to states like Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and nearby regions came out […]

LOCKDOWN: Inquiry ordered against IPS officer for ‘demeaning’ punishment

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said the state government will not condone any behavior by police officers that crosses the line of acceptable and civil behavior, after a video of an IPS officer administering a ‘traditional punishment’ came up. The traditional punishment, known as ‘ethamidal’ in Malayalam, used to be quite popular during feudal era […]

Man commits suicide after wine shops shut in coronavirus lockdown

A 38-year-old man from Kunnamkulam in Kerala reportedly committed suicide on the third day of the pan-India Coronavirus shutdown in Kerala because he could not get his daily dose of alcohol. Sanoj, a resident of Thuvanoor near Kunnamkulam was found dead today morning. According to the statements of his relatives, he was showing signs of […]

CORONAVIRUS: Kerala to allow online sales of liquor

With a 21-day lockdown on people movement coming into place overnight, the Kerala government has taken an in-principle decision to allow the sale of liquor via the Internet. A decision in this respect was taken at today’s meeting of the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, according to local media reports. Liquor […]

COVID-19: Youtube, Hotstar, Netflix etc to stop HD streaming

Several video-on-demand services in India, including Youtube, Hotstar, Tiktok, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5, have decided to suspend the streaming of high-definition content as long as the Coronavirus lockdown is in place. They will continue to offer HD content on wired broadband, such as fiber and copper networks. The move is to prevent the […]

COVID-19: Kerala likely to increase liquor outlets to prevent crowding

Kerala Government may radically expand the number of liquor outlets in the state by tomorrow to prevent crowding at the existing outlets. Kerala State Beverages Corporation, along with Kerala State Co-operatives Consumers’ Federation, has a legal monopoly over the retailing of liquor in Kerala. However, with only around 300 outlets to serve a population of […]