HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 2100 hours: New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) Following are the top stories at 2100 hours: NATION: DEL130 LDALL VIRUS One-and-a-half-month-old baby dies of coronavirus in Delhi hospital; COVID-19 cases cross 16,000 New Delhi: A one-and-a-half-month-old baby boy in Delhi has died of coronavirus becoming the country’s youngest victim of the infection which also affected a 12-day-old infant girl in Bhopal, as COVID-19 cases jumped by over one thousand for the sixth straight day on Sunday prompting authorities to scale up rapid antibody based blood tests. DEL94 LDALL LOCKDOWN Govt U-turn on e-commerce rules, bars non-essential items; easing of lockdown curbs in select sectors from Monday New Delhi: E-commerce companies have been prohibited from selling non-essential items during the lockdown, as conditional relaxations in select sectors outside the coronavirus hotspot areas to kickstart the battered economy come into effect from Monday.

DEL120 VIRUS-PM-LD FUTURE Rather than playing catch-up, India must be ahead of the curve in post-COVID world: PM New Delhi: Rather than playing catch-up, India must be ahead of the curve in the post-COVID world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday and exhorted people to use their innovative zeal to chart a new business and work culture redefined by its "adaptability, efficiency, inclusivity, opportunity and universalism". DEL61 VIRUS-JAVADEKAR-INTERVIEW More relaxations in offing if country continues to manage COVID-19 well: Javadekar New Delhi: A day before a host of relaxations to boost economic activities kick in amid the nationwide lockdown, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday that more relief measures are bound to come if India continues to manage the coronavirus crisis well, asserting that "you cannot (have) lockdown permanently". By Kumar Rakesh DEL121 VIRUS-2NDLD RAJNATH-INTERVIEW Armed forces and military assets adequately protected from coronavirus: Rajnath New Delhi: The fight against coronavirus pandemic is the "biggest invisible war" facing humanity and India is confronting it with excellent synergy among all key organs of the nation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. By Manash Pratim Bhuyan DEL85 RAJNATH-INTERVIEW-TERROR India carrying out targeted strikes on terror launch pads along LoC: Defence Minister New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the Indian Army is carrying out "targeted strikes" on terror launch pads along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and eliminating the Pakistani infiltrators before they cross over to the Indian side. By Manash Pratim Bhuyan DEL133 DL-VIRUS-3RDLD KEJRIWAL Coronavirus spreading in Delhi, won't relax lockdown just yet: Kejriwal New Delhi: The Delhi government will not relax the lockdown for at least a week as the coronavirus spread appears to have gained pace, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, stressing that the national capital has "borne the maximum burnt" while containing the crisis.

DEL122 PAR-LD LOCKDOWN Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha secretariats to resume work from Monday New Delhi: The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats will resume work from Monday after they were shut in the last week of March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to official orders. DEL119 AVI-LOCKDOWN-DGCA-BOOKINGS DGCA directs airlines to stop taking bookings New Delhi: Amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, aviation regulator DGCA on Sunday told airlines to stop taking bookings.

DEL86 VIRUS-CBSE-SYLLABUS Lockdown: CBSE to assess loss of time for students, rationalise syllabus for classes 9-12 New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is considering rationalising the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the next academic year to make up for lost time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. DEL105 AVI-LOCKDOWN-2NDLD SPICEJET SpiceJet says limited number of engineering staff on leave without pay Mumbai: SpiceJet on Sunday said a limited number of staff from its engineering team have been put on leave without pay for a month each on a rotational basis and that no decision has been taken on salary cut across the company.

DEL99 JK-SECURITY-SITUATION Militancy under control in J-K; cross-border elements desperate to foment trouble: L-G Murmu Jammu: Militancy is under control in Jammu and Kashmir but Pakistan has escalated its efforts to disturb peace with a two-fold increase in ceasefire violations by its troops along the border, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chander Murmu has said. By Anil Bhatt DEL104 VIRUS-LD PHARMACISTS COVID-19 crisis: Chemists asked to keep record of people seeking medicines for fever, cough New Delhi: In the wake of rising coronavirus cases, authorities in several states have asked medical shops and pharmacists to keep a record of phone number and address of customers who buy medicines for fever, cough and cold -symptoms similar to COVID-19. BOM15 MH-LOCKDOWN-2NDLD THACKERAY Maha to allow industries in green, orange zones to resume: CM Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said industries based in green and orange coronavirus zones of the state will be allowed to resume operations from April 20, but in a restricted manner.

CAL3 BH-VIRUS-SUSHIL Work on 40,000 projects in Bihar to start from Monday: Dy CM Patna: Work on about 40,000 projects will start in more than 8000 panchayats of Bihar from Monday, as part of the state's efforts to live up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of "jaan bhi, jahaan bhi" (life as well as livelihood), Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Sunday. LEGAL: LGD2 SC-COLLEGIUM SC collegium recommends appointment of new CJs of Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya HCs New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium has decided to recommend the elevation of Calcutta High Court judge Dipankar Datta as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.

LGD3 VIRUS-SC-MILITARY Plea in SC seeks military deployment for proper implementation of lockdown New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the authorities to deploy armed forces to ensure proper implementation of the nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus outbreak. BUSINESS: DEL74 BIZ-VIRUS-ITR I-T return forms being revised to allow assessees to avail benefit of timeline extensions: CBDT New Delhi: The income tax department on Sunday said it is revising the I-T return forms for the financial year 2019-20 to allow assessees to avail benefits of various timeline extension granted by the government following the COVID-19 outbreak.

FOREIGN: FGN18 VIRUS-CHINA-LAB-REAX Wuhan virology lab chief denies COVID-19 originated from institute, says virus 'cannot be man made' Beijing: A premier Chinese virology laboratory in Wuhan, which is in the eye of the storm for allegedly being the source of the novel coronavirus, has for the first time refuted the charge, including those of US President Donald Trump, that the deadly virus originated from his lab before it spread across the world and wreaked havoc. By K J M Varma FGN19 VIRUS-INDIA-LD PANAGARIYA India should take 'measured approach' with stimulus packages to deal with COVID-19: Panagariya New York: India should resist calls for mega relief and stimulus packages that pitch for generous availability of credit to even unviable businesses and instead focus on a more "measured approach" to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, eminent economist Arvind Panagariya has said. By Yoshita Singh SPORTS: SPD6 SPO-LOCKDOWN-BCCI-CORRUPTION Indian players aware, quick to report: BCCI ACU chief Ajit Singh on online corrupt approaches New Delhi: The threat of online corrupt approaches does not cause much anxiety to BCCI's head of Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) Ajit Singh, who says Indian players are well aware of the modus operandi of fixers and are quick to report anything suspect. By Kushan Sarkar..