India's sports fraternity also joined the country by lighting lamps and candles in response to Prime Minster's call to demonstrate the nation's collective resolve. Sports personalities such as batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, India captain Virat Kohli, chief coach Ravi Shastri, six-time world champion boxer MC Mary Kom, double Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar, other Olympic medallists like Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal took to social media to express their solidarity in the fight against the deadly disease.
 
Cricketers Virender Sehwag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Pragyan Ojha, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, sprinter Hima Das and many others also joined the fight against the darkness spread by the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to switch off lights at 9 PM for 9 minutes and light up diyas and candles on 5^th April evoked massive response across the country. A cross section of people switched off their lights and lit 'diyas' to express solidarity with the nation's fight against coronavirus, COVID-19.

On Friday, in a video message, the Prime Minister had said that India will experience the power of light, clearly illuminating the common purpose, the country is fighting for. Mr Modi said, amidst the darkness spread by the Corona pandemic, the country must continuously progress towards light and hope.

Government has exempted shops of agricultural machinery, tea industry and related services from lockdown.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued the 4th addendum to the guidelines issued regarding lockdown to fight COVID-19, to exempt shops of agricultural machinery and its spare parts.

The fourth addendum issued by Union Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla on Friday exempted shops for truck repairs on highways, preferably at fuel pumps as well as the tea industry, including plantations with maximum 50 per cent workers.

The MHA said that social distancing and proper hygiene practices must be ensured in each of these activities.

Health Ministry urges people to download 'Aarogya Setu' App to assess risk of Coronavirus infection.

Government on Friday said that a total 30 lakh people have downloaded the Aarogya Setu App. Health and Family Welfare Ministry has urged all the citizens to download this app as this enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching Coronavirus infection.

Briefing media in New Delhi on Friday, Joint Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Lav Agarwal said, total 2301 confirmed cases of Coronavirus have been reported in the country and 157 patients have been recovered. He said, 56 people have lost their lives in the country so far.

He said, during the last two days, 647 confimed cases from 14 states have been reported from those who participated in the Tabligi Jammat in Nizammudin, Markaz, New Delhi. He said, these cases have surged the numbers of confirmed cases in the country.

LG Advisor Umang Narula has reviewed the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gharib Kalyan Package in Union Territory Ladakh, on Friday in Leh. Advisor issued instructions to plan the distribution in a staggered manner in co-ordination with the police department.

Divisional Commissioner Saugat Biswas informed that, in Ladakh, all Antyodaya Ann Yojana and Priority Household beneficiaries will be provided additional 5kg Rice per person free of cost upto June. Additionally, one kilogram pulses per household will also be provided every month. 

He also instructed the Deputy Commissioners to start stocking up of the fair price shops of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs with adequate food grains from the respective FCI stores.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged people to light diyas tomorrow to show solidarity in country's fight against COVID-19. In a tweet, Mr Modi shared a video of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reciting the poem - Aao Phir Se Diya Jalayein.
 
Citizens are advised not to use alcohol based sanitizers while lighting diyas and candles tomorrow at 9 PM as it is inflammable.

In December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Since then, each year, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) organizes a multimedia exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to raise awareness on threats caused by mines, explosive remnants of war, and improvised explosive devices. With co-organizers, UNMAS will unveil a photo exhibition featuring the “Safe Ground” campaign, which promotes the linkage between mine action, sport and the Sustainable Development Goals by showing how replacing minefields with playing fields brings communities together and raises awareness about victims and survivors of armed conflict. The campaign will be announced by the UN Secretary-General in his message commemorating the Day.

 Mine Action programmes in several countries will hold Safe Ground events, including in the State of Palestine, where UNMAS is organizing a football tournament in Gaza; in Cyprus, where UNMAS will survey and do a final sweep over land in the buffer zone that will be used by UNMAS and UNFICYP to construct a Safe Ground sporting facility; in Somalia where a soccer match will be organized; in Iraq where a road race is planned; as well as in South Sudan, Lebanon and Colombia, to name a few.

The Government on Thursday launched a mobile app developed in public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19.

The App, called ‘AarogyaSetu’ joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian. The App will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Coronavirus infection.

It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with Aarogya Setu installed that come in the proximity of that phone.

The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts is tested positive.

The World Bank has approved USD 1 billion emergency funding for India to help it tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to USD 1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations using the fast-track process, the bank said on Thursday.

The largest chunk of the emergency financial assistance has gone to India - USD 1 billion.

"In India, USD 1 billion emergency financing will support better screening, contact tracing, and laboratory diagnostics; procure personal protective equipment; and set up new isolation wards," the World Bank said after its Board of Executive Directors approved the first set of emergency support operations for developing countries around the world, using a dedicated, fast-track facility for COVID-19 response.

New Delhi: Digital payments company PhonePe on Wednesday announced a medical insurance policy called 'Corona Care' for people who have been infected and hospitalized for Coronavirus treatment. PhonePe launched this policy in partnership with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of India’s largest and most trusted general insurance companies.

This Coronavirus insurance policy is priced at Rs 156 with an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 for a person aged under 55 years and the cover is applicable at any hospital providing Coronavirus treatment.

Besides, it covers 30 days of expenses related to pre-hospitalization costs and post-care medical treatment.

"Customers don’t need to undertake any medical tests before purchasing the 'Corona Care' policy. They can purchase it instantly from the convenience of their homes considering the current lockdown observed in the country," PhonePe said.

PhonePe users can purchase their Coronavirus insurance policy available under the “My Money” section on the PhonePe app. The entire policy purchase process takes less than 2 minutes and customers will be instantly issued their policy documents inside the PhonePe app.

Speaking on the launch Sameer Nigam, Founder & CEO, PhonePe said, “Unfortunately, despite global efforts to contain the pandemic, COVID-19 is still spreading fast and furiously across the world. The Indian government has taken very bold steps towards containing the outbreak in India."