Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the nation through a video message, in which he appealed to the citizens of India to come together to defeat the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, that is spreading like wildfire across the nation.

In a unique proposition, the Prime Minister asked every citizen to switch off all lights at their residences on April 5 at 9 PM for nine minutes and instead light a candle, a 'Diya', or their mobile's flashlights to mark India's fight against coronavirus.

Hours after Delhi government wrote to capital's police commissioner seeking deployment of adequate police force at the quarantine centres and hospital where people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin Markaz have been kept, adjoining Ghaziabad's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has written to the local police saying that the Jammat attendees have been roaming nude inside the MMG district hospital and making lewd gestures and remarks at the nurses.

In the letter, the CMO said that the inmates who have been put under observation are misbehaving with the hospital staff.

Taking stringent action against the Tablighi Jamaat, Nizamuddin, the Centre on Thursday blacklisted 960 foreigners and cancelled their tourist visas after over their involvement in Jamaat activities. The government also said that necessary legal action will be taken against them.

Under the directions of Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has blacklisted 960 foreigners, present in India on tourist visas, for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in an official statement.

The United Kingdom's flagship airline British Airways (BA) will temporarily lay off 28,000 employees, which is a staggering 60% of its entire workforce, news agency PTI reported. The move comes amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis which is spreading like wildfire across the world and paralysing the airline sector, among several others.

The airline, which has grounded most of its fleet due to the coronavirus, has been locked in talks with unions for more than a week.

The number of 'confirmed' coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the world crossed 10 lakh around late Thursday night, with the Coronavirus Resource Center at the John Hopkins University putting the total number of confirmed cases worldwide at 1,014,673 on Friday at 7 AM.

It is worth noting that it just took a little over 24 hours for the number of global cases to jump from nine lakh to 10 lakh.

More than 1,000 died of Covid-19 in the US as the death toll stood at 5,137 and the number of infections at 216,000 on Thursday. The country grappled with an unprecedented health crisis, including a huge shortage of medical supplies and protective equipment.

The number of confirmed infections rose by over 25,000 in a day. More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Facing aggravated fiscal woes due to the lockdown, states have demanded an immediate release of their pending goods and services tax (GST) dues by the Centre, besides a hike in the borrowing limit. To tide over the crisis, states have sought an increase in the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) limit to 4 per cent, from 3 per cent.

With over four months of GST compensation of more than Rs 40,000 crore still pending, some states even plan to drag the central government to the Supreme Court.

The World Bank on Thursday approved $1-billion emergency financing for India to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 76 lives and infected 2,500 others in the country.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to $1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations using the fast-track process, the bank said.

The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has become the second-largest nationalized bank of the country - both in terms of business and branch network - after its amalgamation with United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce which came into effect on April 1.

The State Bank of India (SBI) still remains the largest state-run bank in the country.

With over 150 coronavirus cases reported from Mumbai alone, highest from any city in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is racing against time to seal the areas where positive cases have been found.

The areas which the BMC plans to seal include where contacts of confirmed cases live.

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