HIGHLIGHTS

These are the top stories at 9 pm: DEL100 BIZ-VIRUS-LDALL PACKAGE Govt announces Rs 3 lakh cr collateral-free loans for small business; liquidity for NBFCs New Delhi: The government on Wednesday announced about Rs 6 lakh crore package, including Rs 3 lakh crore of collateral-free loans for small businesses and a Rs 30,000 crore lifeline to non-bank and housing finance companies as part of measures to help the economy tide over disruptions caused by the coronavirus lockdown. DEL127 VIRUS-PMCARES PMCARES Fund to allocate Rs 2000 crore for purchasing ventilators, 1000 cr for migrants New Delhi: The PM CARES Fund Trust on Wednesday decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for fight against COVID-19, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

DEL90 HEALTH-VIRUS-VARDHAN Vardhan takes stock of COVID-19 preparedness in Pb, appreciates steps taken by state New Delhi: Nine states and UTs including Chhattisgarh, Ladakh, Manipur and Meghalaya have not reported any new case of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours while Daman and Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported any cases so far, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday. DEL108 MEA-INDIA-SCO Collective action needed to deal with terrorism: India at SCO New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday strongly pitched for "collective action" by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in dealing with the overwhelming threat of terrorism.

DEL93 AVI-LOCKDOWN-LD VANDE BHARAT 30,000 Indians will return from abroad on 149 flights under phase 2 of Vande Bharat Mission: Puri New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that 30,000 Indians will return from 31 countries on 149 flights between May 16 and 22, the duration for the second phase of the Vande Bharat Mission. BOM21 MH-VIRUS-CASES Maha reports single-day highest 1,495 cases and 54 deaths Mumbai: Maharashtra on Wednesday reported the single-day highest 1,495 new COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths, 40 of them in Mumbai alone, taking the overall case count to 25,922 and the number of fatalities to 975, a Health department official said.

DEL99 PACKAGE-LD CHIDAMBARAM Centre's COVID-19 economic package has nothing for poor, hungry migrant workers: Chidambaram New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the Centre’s COVID-19 economic stimulus package had nothing for lakhs of poor and hungry migrant workers who have been walking to their homes, and expressed disappointment with the finance minister’s announcements. CAL14 WB-PACKAGE-MAMATA Centre's economic package a 'big zero', it has nothing for states: Mamata Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday slammed the Union government, claiming the special economic package announced by it has nothing of help to the states and is "a big zero".

MDS11 KL-VIRUS-CASES Spike in COVID-19 cases in Kerala;10 test positive Thiruvananthapuram: In a sharp spike, 10 people, four of them who had flown infrom abroad recently, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala on Wednesday as the numbers of those under treatment for the infection climbed to 41. LEGAL LGD15 VIRUS-SC-DRESS Judges, lawyers shouldn’t wear coat, gown as they make it easier to catch virus: CJI New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde on Wednesday said the judges and the lawyers should not wear coat and gown for the time being as they make it “easier to catch virus".

LGD19 JUDGE-GOGOI-WEBINAR Why no questions asked from "activist judges", those taking arbitration: Ex CJI Gogoi New Delhi: Former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha MP Ranjan Gogoi asked on Wednesday as to why no questions were being asked from "activist judges" and those taking commercial arbitration post retirement. LGD24 SC-LD SAJJAN Anti-Sikh riots: SC declines interim bail on health grounds to Sajjan Kumar New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed pleas for interim bail or parole on health grounds of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is serving life imprisonment in an 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying that he did not need hospitalization as per medical report at the moment.

FOREIGN FGN27 SINOINDIA-LD BORDER China claims its troops patrolling on Chinese side of LAC Beijing: Amid tensions between the Indian and Chinese soldiers at Pangong Tso lake area, China said on Wednesday that India should refrain from taking any action to "complicate" the issue and claimed that the PLA troops were conducting "normal patrol" on the Chinese side of the border. By K J M Varma FGN35 UK-NIRAV MODI Indian govt submits more proof against Nirav Modi in money laundering case London: The Indian government on Wednesday submitted further documents as "corroboratory evidence" in its case of fraud and money laundering against fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is contesting his extradition to India at an ongoing hearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. By Aditi Khanna..