New Delhi

After a meeting with Power Minister RK Singh, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi announced several relief measures for the consumers of Coal India Ltd (CIL), including the power sector.

The decision has been taken in the aftermath of the COVID-19 situation and with a view to provide immediate relief to the business entities and individuals, said the Department of Revenue.

The company is also extending support to government officials, police department and government hospital employees with packaged food and drinking water with the help of NGOs.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 3,981, as many as 325 people were cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it stated. The total number of cases include 66 foreign nationals.

The authority said mammals, especially cats, ferret and primates, need to be carefully monitored and fortnightly samples of suspected cases be sent to designated animal health institutes for COVID-19 testing.

Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said at a press conference said that if the government of India does not fulfill its duties, it is not possible to fight the war against coronavirus.

Stating that India is perhaps faced today with its greatest emergency since Independence, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan urged the government to start planning the measures that shall be taken after the virus is controlled.

The national carrier is scheduled to operate 18 charter flights to fly back German, French, Irish and Canadian nationals stranded in India during the lockdown.

The leading carmaker also announced a Rs 2 crore grant towards procuring gloves, masks, medicines, ventilators, and beds in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the government had no contingency plan in place to deal with the crisis and appealed to party workers to help such migrants by offering them food and shelter.

The former JD(U) leader has also described the length of the 21-day lockdown "a bit too long" and took a dig at the government, saying this is the price one pays for "being behind the curve".

Sinha, who has been quite vocal about the Modi government's policies in the last couple of years, noted that the Indian economy has been on a downward trend for 7-8 quarters now, and the decline started long before the coronavirus outbreak.

These three measures relating to TLTRO, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and MSF will inject total liquidity of Rs 3.74 lakh crore to the system, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the seventh bi-monthly monetary policy.

The ratings firm has upgraded various bond programmes of Yes Bank and has placed a ratings watch on them with developing implications.

Chidambaram questioned Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying the Ministry of Finance has disowned responsibility for constituting the task force.

The company's research and development centre at Rohtak will also remain closed and the duration of the shutdown will depend on government policy, the statement from MSI said.