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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a Rs 70,000 crore boost to the housing and construction sectors that have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, by extending an interest subsidy scheme meant to help middle class families build or purchase a house.Ms Sitharaman, unveiling the second tranche of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package for a coronavirus-hit economy, said a credit-linked subsidy scheme for middle-income groups that had been operationalised in May 2017 and expired on March 31 would be extended by 12 months to March 2021.

The cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida witnessed heavy rain, dust storm and hailstorm today. The dust storm started at around 6.00 pm, followed by rain and hailstorm minutes later.The rain and cloudy skies also led to a dip in the temperature.The sudden evening rain and dust storm sent social media into an overdrive, with many people sharing videos and images on Twitter and Facebook.

A fierce fight over food packets between passengers of a special migrants' train at a station in Bihar is being widely shared on social media. The video was reportedly filmed today in Katihar, around 300 km from state capital Patna.The tragic visuals have raised questions about railways' claims of ensuring social distancing while running the special migrant trains during the lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus in the country.The incident allegedly took place at Katihar Junction, when a train arrived from Delhi and stopped en route to Purnia. In the clip, a group of men start snatching food packets…

Maharashtra reported 1,495 coronavirus cases on Wednesday – the highest single-day spike in the state taking its total to 25,992, while the number of deaths rose to 975 with 54 people dying of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, health department officials said. State capital Mumbai breached the 15,000-mark today with 800 new cases taking its tally to 15,747. Mumbai is the worst-hit city in India; it also accounts for 40 of the 54 deaths in the state in the last 24 hours.Mumbai also accounts for 21 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases in the country. With a death…

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday asked officials to give momentum to the plan for providing employment to migrant workers as well as to encourage industrial development in the state in order to ensure restoration of the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis.Yogi Adityanath has directed the state's industrial development and revenue departments to set up a "land bank" to make land available for new industries, a UP government spokesperson said.The chief minister has also asked officials to increase the capacity of quarantine centres with large numbers of migrants returning to the state.

Maharashtra BJP Chief Chandrakant Patil on Wednesday said a "political earthquake" would take place at the national level once the COVID-19 situation normalises.Chandrakant Patil said the Congress leadership should try to keep its flock together as several leaders will switchover to the BJP."I heard that a state level Congress leader was trying to lure (senior BJP leader) Eknath Khadse. He should know that Khadse has been a firebrand leader of the party for several years. There will be a political earthquake at the national level including in Maharashtra as several Congress leaders will join the BJP post the COVID-19 crisis,"…

Even as his party has been up in arms against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the migrant labourers' issue, Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has appreciated PM Modi's "sincere attempts" to bring back those stranded to their home.Mr Chowdhury, the five-time MP from West Bengal's Berhampur Lok Sabha seat, in a letter to the PM last night, urged him to reduce the rate of tickets, if not making it free, keeping in view the fact that these out-of-job labourers are facing severe financial crunch."I do like to appreciate your sincere attempt of sending back…

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced relief for middle classes too today as part of the government's efforts to soften the blow of coronavirus. To allow people more cash in hand, the government has offered a 25 per cent reduction in TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) for non-salaried specified payments and TCS (Tax Collection at Source) for specified receipts, Ms Sitharaman said while announcing the contours of the 20 lakh crore financial package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday to counter the huge financial cost of the coronavirus.This will apply to payment for contract, professional fees, interest, rent, dividend,…