HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 13:30 Hours: NATION DEL17 VIRUS-ADVISORY-MASKS COVID-19: Govt issues advisory asking people to wear 'homemade face covers' New Delhi: As India witnesses a spike in coronavirus cases, the Central government on Saturday issued an advisory asking people to wear "homemade face covers" particularly when they step out of their houses in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. DEL3 MHA-JK Govt reserves jobs in J&K for domiciles; amends Apr 1 order after angry reax New Delhi, Apr 4: The Central government has amended its two-day-old order and reserved all jobs in Jammu and Kashmir for the domiciles of the Union territory -- people who have stayed there for at least 15 years.

DEL9 VIRUS-RAIL-RESTORE Rly issues 'restoration plan' to zones, asks to prepare for resumption of services from Apr 15 New Delhi: Railways has begun preparing to resume all its services from April 15 after a 21-day suspension of its passenger trains in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. DEL7 VIRUS-CASES Country's COVID-19 death toll rises to 68, number of cases to 2,902 New Delhi: The number of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 2,902 on Saturday while the death toll rose to 68, according to the Union Health Ministry. BUSINESS DEL18 BIZ-VIRUS-POWER BLACKOUT-UTILITIES State power utilities gear up for blackout on Sunday New Delhi: State load dispatch centres and transmission utilities are gearing up to deal with the possibility of any adverse impact on the electricity grid on Sunday following the Prime Minister's blackout appeal. DEL13 BIZ-VIRUS-DIAGNOSTIC KITS-EXPORT Govt puts curbs on exports of diagnostic kits with immediate effect New Delhi: The government on Saturday put curbs on exports of diagnostic kits with a view to discourage shipments amid the coronavirus outbreak.

FOREIGN FGN24 VIRUS-US-NY-DEATHS New York State records highest number of deaths in single day from COVID-19 New York: The New York State reported its highest number of 562 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, with a person dying almost every two-and-a-half minutes, as Governor Andrew Cuomo allowed redistribution of ventilators and protective gear to hospitals with greater need. By Yoshita Singh FGN28 VIRUS-PAK-US-FLIGHT US evacuates stranded citizens as Pak relaxes ban on intl flights Islamabad: Pakistan relaxed its ban on international flights to let a US chartered plane to land and evacuate 294 American citizens, including nine diplomats, amid the coronavirus pandemic. By Sajjad Hussain FGN27 VIRUS-PAK Pakistan records 2,700 coronavirus cases; Punjab crosses 1,000-mark Islamabad: Pakistan's coronavirus cases rose to 2,708 on Saturday with the number of patients in the Punjab province, which accounts for more than half of the country's total population, crossing the 1,000-mark. By Sajjad Hussain ..

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