Archives for 2021

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department has issued a notification allowing hospitals and nursing homes to accept cash payments of Rs 2 lakh and more for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which frames policy for the department, issued the notification on Friday.

It said hospitals, dispensaries, nursing homes, COVID care centres or similar other medical facilities providing COVID-19 treatment to patients are being “specified for the purpose of section 269ST of the Income Tax Act”.

This section restricts any person from receiving an amount of Rs 2 lakh or more in cash, from a person in a day, in respect of a single transaction or in respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion from a person.

It was introduced by the Union government in 2017 as a measure to curb black money.

The notification said the latest provision is being made for a period between April 1-May 31 “on obtaining the PAN or Aadhaar of the patient and the payee and the relationship between the patient and the payee” by such hospitals or COVID care centres.

Officials said the move was aimed to remove the hardship being faced by relatives and caregivers of COVID-19 patients who visit hospitals for treatment.

The country is grappling with the onslaught of a massive COVID-19 wave with a record 4,187 deaths and 4,01,078 new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

New Delhi: Former India hockey player and a member of the 1980 Moscow Olympics-winning side, Ravider Pal Singh, died on Saturday morning in Lucknow after battling COVID-19 for nearly two weeks.

He was 65.

Singh was admitted at the Vivekananda Hospital on April 24 after contracting the deadly virus.

According to family sources, Singh had recovered from the virus and was shifted to non-COVID ward on Thursday after testing negative.

But his condition suddenly deteriorated on Friday and he was put on a ventilator.

Singh, who also played at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, did not get married and is survived by a niece, Pragya Yadav. Singh also played in the 1979 Junior World Cup and took voluntary retirement from State Bank of India after quitting hockey.

Born in Sitapur, Singh excelled as a centre-half from 1979 to 1984.

Besides two Olympics, Singh had also represented India in the Champions Trophy in Karachi (1980, 1983), Silver Jubilee 10-nation Cup in Hong Kong in 1983, 1982 World Cup in Mumbai and 1982 Asia Cup in Karachi, among other tournaments.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju condoled the death of the double Olympian.

“I’m deeply saddened to learn that Shri Ravinder Pal Singh ji has lost the battle to Covid19. With his passing away India loses a golden member of the hockey team that won Gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. His contribution to Indian sports will always be remembered,” he tweeted.

Chennai: With Tamil Nadu witnessing a sharp increase in the COVID-19 cases, the government on Saturday announced clamping a two-week “total lockdown” across the state to curb the spread of the pandemic, starting May 10.

Chief Minister M K Stalin said in a statement that the lockdown was being enforced due to “unavoidable reasons” and pointed out that the decision was taken based on inputs received at a review meeting he had with district collectors on Friday, besides consultations with medical experts.

The recommendations made by the Union Home and Health ministries had also been factored in.

“The total lockdown will be enforced from 4 am on May 10 to 4 am on May 24 to further intensify the efforts to curb the spread of the disease,” he said.

Stalin announced relaxing existing restrictions on business hours for shops on Saturday and Sunday, when a full day-long lockdown is supposed to be in effect, allowing them to remain open till 9 pm to aid people since stricter curbs would kick in from May 10.

The state-run liquor outlets operated by Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), all bars, spas, gyms, beauty parlours, saloons, auditoria, cinema theatres, recreation clubs and amusement and zoological parks will be shut during this period.

Beaches and tourist attractions in the hilly locations of Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal will be out of bounds for people.

Offices of government departments other than those dealing with essential services including Health, Revenue, Police, Fire and Rescue Services and Disaster Management will not function, he said.

All private offices and companies and IT and ITES firms shall also remain closed and employees can work from home.

Existing restrictions regarding places of worship, cap on attendees in wedding and death-related events will continue while educational institutions will remain closed.

Inter and intra-district public and private bus services will be suspended while hire taxies and auto rickshaws cannot ply.

Those travelling for essential work like wedding, death, interview or exams shall produce proof to be allowed permission to proceed, the chief minister added.

Standalone shops selling vegetables, groceries, provision items, fish and meat products can remain open till 12 noon with only fifty percent customers.

E-commerce firms distributing these can do so till noon, he added.

“Other than the aforementioned shops, no other establishments can run,” during the lockdown, Stalin said.

There shall be no dine-in services in hotels and tea shops and the former can sell takeaways in staggered working hours through the day. Tea stalls have to down shutters by noon.

Among those allowed to work during the lockdown period include media, courier firms, hospitals and related services, fuel outlets, continuous process industries, data centers, and telecom services, he said.

State-run Amma Canteens will remain open, platform vendors selling vegetables and flowers can do so till 12 pm and fair price shops will work from 8 am to 12 noon, he said.

Stalin urged people to follow the covid protocols and extend cooperation to the government’s pandemic prevention activities.

Tamil Nadu saw 26,465 new coronavirus cases on Friday, pushing the caseload to 13.23 lakh while a record 197 deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 15,171.

According to the health department, the active cases stood at 1,35,355.

Stalin said 23 districts in the state had a positivity rate of 10 percent.

New Delhi: At least four private hospitals in Delhi sent SOS calls to authorities over shortage of medical oxygen on Friday.

The healthcare facilities included Kukreja Hospital in Mayur Vihar, Batra Hospital in Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Sir Ganga Ram-Kolmet Hospital, Pusa Road, and Irene Hospital in Kalkaji.

Government officials promptly responded to SOS calls and supplied three D-type cylinders to Irene Hospital and Kukreja Hospital.

A tanker carrying oxygen was supplied to Batra Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram-Kolmet Hospital, officials said.

Delhi got just 577 metric tonnes of oxygen on May 6, which is 59 per cent of the total requirement of 976 MT, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said on Friday.

The capital had received 730 MT of oxygen on Wednesday, the highest so far, which had led to a significant reduction in SOS calls from hospitals.

MUMBAI: India Test batsman Ajinkya Rahane and his wife Radhika on Saturday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Test vice-captain also highlighted the importance of getting vaccinated amid the coronavirus crisis.

“Both me and Radhika got our first dose of the vaccine today. We’re getting vaccinated not only for ourselves but also for those around us. I urge everyone to get vaccinated if you’re eligible,” Rahane captioned the post on Instagram.

Earlier this week, India opener Shikhar Dhawan received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The left-handed batsman also urged everyone to get vaccinated as it will ‘help us defeat’ the coronavirus.

Dhawan also thanked the frontline warriors for their “sacrifices and dedication” which they have shown as the country grapples with the coronavirus crisis.

Dhawan and Rahane were playing for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2021 before the tournament was postponed.

Rahane will now be seen in action when India lock horns with New Zealand in World Test Championship (WTC) final in June. The showpiece event gets underway on June 18 and will continue till June 22 with June 23 kept as a reserve day.

While it was initially set to be played at the Lord’s, the ICC decided to move it to Southampton with an eye on the COVID-19 situation across the globe.

The BCCI on Friday named a 20-member squad (two subjects to fitness clearance) which will also have four standby players. Of the four standby players, three are fast bowlers — Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Saturday said that while smaller countries in the neighbourhood are offering help to India to tackle COVID-19, the Modi government is not even ready to stop the work of the multi-crore Central Vista project.

The party also said that the system created in the past 70 years by previous prime ministers, including Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, has helped the country live through the tough times that it is facing today.

“The UNICEF has expressed fear that there is a threat to the world from India due to the pace at which coronavirus is spreading in the country. It has also made an appeal that maximum number of countries should help India in the fight against COVID-19. Bangladesh has sent 10,000 Remdesivir vials, while Bhutan has sent medical oxygen. Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have also offered help to ‘aatmanirbhar’ India,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“In clear terms, India is surviving on the system created by Nehru-Gandhi. Many poor countries are offering help to India. Earlier, countries like Pakistan, Rwanda and Congo used to get help from others. But due to the wrong policies of today’s rulers, India is going through that situation now,” it said.

But while poor countries are helping India in their own way, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not ready to stop the ambitious project of Central Vista worth Rs 20,000 crore, the Sena added.

The party expressed surprise that nobody feels regret that on the one hand, India accepts aid from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while on the other, Modi is not ready to stop work on the multi-crore Central Vista project for construction of a new Parliament building and the house of the prime minister.

The redevelopment project of the Central Vista – the power corridor of the country – envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and new residences for the prime minister and the vice president.

The Sena said that even as the world is battling a second wave of COVID-19, experts have predicted that the third wave will be more severe.

But the ruling BJP is doing all it can to corner Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal even today.

“A sensitive and a nationalist government would not have thought about the political pros and cons and set up a national panel of all main political parties to discuss ways to defeat the pandemic,” the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has demanded that Union minister Nitin Gadkari be given the charge of the health ministry and this is a proof that the current union health ministry has been a complete failure, it added.

India has reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the last 10 days.

Globally, one out of the five active patients is in India.

In the last ten days, 36,110 deaths have occurred.

Every hour, there are 150 COVID-19 deaths in the country. We have left USA and Brazil behind in terms of deaths due to virus. The world fears India now, the Sena said.

According to it, several countries have stopped their citizens from travelling to India and our country is bearing the economic brunt of the pandemic.

“The country is presently surviving thanks to the development works, projects set up by and the confidence given by the previous governments of PanditNehru, (Lal Bahadur) Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh,” it said.

The prime ministerwill have to do a lot of hard work andthink of non-political nationalismto help the country come out of the pandemic, it said.

On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had attacked the Union government over the Central Vista project, terming it a “criminal wastage” and asked the dispensation to focus on people’s lives.