The Supreme Court of India on Monday started hearing urgent matters via video conferencing in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was taken to avoid a gathering in the court premises.

This is the first time that the judges and the lawyers were in seperate rooms during the hearing.

The Centre on Monday directed states to strictly enforce the lockdown and take legal action against violators as the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 415.

The directions were issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lamented that people are not taking the lockdown in the country seriously.

Bharti Airtel on Monday asked Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd join hands and pave the way for intra-circle roaming (ICR) pacts to ensure uninterrupted mobile and wireless internet services amid the surge in data consumption. The spike is the outcome of the near lock down in the country in its battle against Covid-19, forcing people to work from home to contain spread of the coronavirus.

At least two leading private diagnostic chains on Sunday said that they got the final go-ahead from the government to start COVID-19 testing.

They would start collecting samples for testing from today. For starters, this would happen in Mumbai. Thyrocare and Metropolis Healthcare both got the final clearance from the government to go ahead with the testing.

Hyundai Motor India and TVS Motor have decided to halt production in line with other automakers because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Hyundai said that it will be taking the preventive counter-measure of suspending its manufacturing operations at the Chennai facility from March 23, 2020 till further notice to stop the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Godrej Consumer (GCPL) and ITC on Sunday slashed the price of their entry-level hand sanitizer packs under Godrej Protekt and Savlon, respectively, by nearly 66 per cent, in response to Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reducing its prices.

The move also comes as the government characterised masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities, monitoring its production, distribution, and marketing closely. More players are expected to follow in HUL, GCPL and ITC’s footsteps, sector analysts said.

Tech Mahindra, one of the country’s biggest IT services companies, has said the firm is taking all necessary measures to ensure its staff are safe and protected, following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

The Pune-headquartered firm was responding to a specific query after a video surfaced where a person was seen arguing with Tech Mahindra employees regarding the safety of staff. The video was widely circulated on social media also.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has asked the Centre to instruct the over-the-top (OTT) players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5 to ease the pressure on network infrastructure that has arisen from the increased demand for online video streaming.

Demand has surged because of the coronavirus lockdown, more people working from home, more digital payments, more healthcare and education services moving online, and quarantine measures to contain the spread of Covid 19.

Hydroxychloroquine, a drug whose largest manufacturer is an Indian firm, has shot into the limelight after the US president advocated it as potential therapy for COVID-19.

Ipca is the biggest producer of the drug. Cadila Healthcare, based in Ahmedabad, too is a major player. Both are gearing up to meet the demand and have said there will be enough supplies.

The government has capped maximum retail price of hand sanitizer at Rs 100 per 200ml bottle till June 30 this year amid sharp rise in the prices of this product amid the coronavirus oubreak.

Similarly, price of a 2 ply (surgical) mask has been capped at Rs 8 and that of 3 ply (surgical) mask at Rs 10 till June 30, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a statement.

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