HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9.30 pm. DEL81 BIZ-VIRUS-3RDLD RBI RBI eases bad loan rules, cuts reverse repo rate, freezes dividend payout by banks Mumbai: The RBI on Friday further eased bad-loan rules, froze dividend payment by lenders and pushed banks to lend more by cutting the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points, as it unveiled a second set of measures to support the economy hit hard by a coronavirus-led slowdown.

DEL67 LOCKDOWN PM RBI PM says RBI measures will enhance liquidity New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the announcements made by the Reserve Bank of India will greatly enhance liquidity and improve credit supply. DEL160 LDALL VIRUS As COVID-19 cases inch towards 14,000, Guj 6th state to cross 1k mark; Centre says doubling time has slowed down New Delhi: Gujarat on Friday became the sixth state to cross the 1,000 mark in coronavirus cases whose all India tally jumped by over one thousand for the fourth straight day to inch towards 14,000 even as the Centre said the doubling time for COVID-19 infections has slowed down in the last one week.

DEL157 VIRUS-LD HEALTH MINISTRY Doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in India reduced with imposition of lockdown: Health Ministry New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry said on Friday the rate at which the number of coronavirus cases in the country was doubling in the last one week was 6.2 days, as against three days before the nationwide lockdown was imposed. DEL169 LOCKDOWN-LDALL SCHOOL FEE Pvt schools must reconsider decision on annual fee hike, collecting fee quarterly: HRD Minister New Delhi: Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Friday urged private schools to reconsider their decisions on annual fee hike and collecting fee quarterly during the COVID-19 lockdown, and asked states to work in best interest of both schools and parents.

NATION DEL168 BIZ-VIRUS-FM-STIMULUS COVID-19: India to provide additional relief, economic stimulus soon, says FM New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India will soon announce fresh relief measures and economic stimulus to help the poor and industry fight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. DELHI DEL166 VIRUS-MHA-ROHINGYAS MHA asks states to screen Rohingyas for COVID-19 as many of them attended Nizamuddin meet New Delhi: The Home Ministry has asked all states and UTs to screen Rohingya Muslims living in their jurisdiction for Covid-19 as many of them had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin, officials said on Friday. DEL128 NCW-LOCKDOWN-VIOLENCE India witnesses steep rise in crime against women amid lockdown, 587 complaints received: NCW New Delhi: There has been a steep rise in crime against women across the country amid restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak, with the National Commission for Women receiving 587 complaints from March 23 to April 16, out of which 239 are related to domestic violence.

DEL167 RBI-LD PARTIES BJP says RBI's measures will help save livelihoods, Cong finds them 'far too little' New Delhi: The RBI's measures on Friday to boost the economy hit hard by the coronavirus crisis were slammed as "far too little" by the Congress but the ruling BJP lauded them, saying they will help protect people's livelihoods by infusing liquidity and improving credit flow.   DEL134 LOCKDOWN-ARMY-TRAIN Army arranges special train to ferry personnel to formations along Pak, China borders New Delhi: Around 950 Army personnel on Friday left for Jammu from Bengaluru on a special train for their deployment in various field formations along the border with Pakistan, military officials said. MDS19 KA-LOCKDOWN-VIOLATIONS Shutdown norms thrown to wind in Karnataka, people swarm wedding, temple festival Bengaluru: In twin instances of disregard for lockdown norms in Karnataka, scores of people allegedly swarmed a farmhouse near here to get a glimpse of the wedding of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's son while devotees took part in the chariot festival of a temple in the COVID-19 hotspot of Kalaburagi district.

FOREIGN FGN45 VIRUS-CHINA-2NDLD ECONOMY Coronavirus-hit Chinese economy shrinks 6.8 pct in Q1, worst since 1976 Beijing: China's GDP took the worst hit since the disastrous Cultural Revolution in 1976, plummeting by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 as the country took unprecedented measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic that brought the world's second largest economy to a standstill. By K J M Varma FGN21 VIRUS-US-TRUMP-3RDLD ECONOMY Trump unveils guidelines to reopen America, lets governors to take call on lifting curbs in states Washington: US President Donald Trump has unveiled a three-phase plan to reopen the world's largest economy, jolted by the COVID-19 pandemic, that allows governors to gradually ease the crippling lockdown in their states. By Lalit K Jha. FGN47 VIRUS-PAK-JAMAAT Tablighi Jamaat’s Faisalabad chief dies of coronavirus in Pak; Over 1,100 members infected Lahore: The Faisalabad chief of Tablighi Jamaat has died of coronavirus even as the number of its infected members crossed the 1,100 mark in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Friday. By M Zulqernain.