"Be Vocal For the Local"- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

PM Modi said the package would be part of a movement for self-reliant India, and said rules for the new lockdown would be drawn up after consulting with states.

This will be the Modi's fifth address over the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two months. PM's address comes at a time when the country has over 70,000 cases.He announces Rs 20-lakh crore package to revive economy .

He talked about ‘Atma-Nirbhar Bharat’ (Mission Self-Reliant India) to tide over the coronavirus crisis. Stressing on the fact that India could not be controlled by the virus, he also announced “lockdown 4” after 17 May, which would be in a new form with different rules. What will the package be used for? How does the government plan to utilise the funds and in what form?

Here are a few points:

• It is clear that we will have to stay in lockdown for a while. There might be a fifth lockdown too.

• In this 20-crore package, nearly 6-8 lakh crores will be new. The remaining amount will be repurposed.

• The fiscal deficit will be digested by global reading agencies as India is not the only country taking out such measures.

• This step will allow more measures to help the economy from sinking further. It will only act as a support.

• Not right to call it a 'stimulus package,' it is a 'rescue and relief' package.

The PM said that the package, estimated to be around 10 percent of the GDP, is intended to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM also stressed on the use of country-made products in a bid to boost small and local businesses. Talking about the fourth phase of the lockdown he said, “Details of lockdown 4 will be shared after suggestion from states, before May 18.”

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that as relief from the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely soon, there is a "need for a three-month plan to deal with the situation".

Mamata was also quoted as saying that people were facing problems since the imposition of the lockdown on 25 March as the move was "poorly planned", News18 reported.

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday allowed the home delivery of alcohol with guidelines. According to the order issued by the government, the delivery can be made "only into the area of license, and people doing the delivery must wear mask and use sanitisers."

ANI quoted sources as saying that the second phase of the Centre's repatriation exercise, dubbed the 'Vande Bharat Mission', will be launched from 16-22 May. It will bring back Indians from 31 countries. 149 flights including feeder flights will be deployed, the report said.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the mortality rate due to coronavirus is one of the lowest in India globally.

"In the fight against COVID-19 our mortality rate is about the lowest in the world. Today the mortality rate is around 3.2 percent, in several states it is even less than this. Global fatality rate is around 7-7.5 percent," he said.

Reports said that around 17,000 prisoners — almost 50 percent — are to be given parole in Maharashtra "in order to maintain social distancing by decongesting in prisons".

After 81 more individuals tested COVID-19 positive in Indore, the total number of confirmed cases in the Madhya Pradesh district climbed to 2,016, said a health official on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 toll in the district reached 92 after two more fatalities were registered in the past 24 hours.

As many as 6,037 Indian nationals have been evacuated in 31 inbound flights operated by Air India and Air India Express under Vande Bharat Mission, said Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday.

The operation began five days ago from 7 May.

After nearly two months of hearing only "extremely urgent matters", the Supreme Court is likely to hear matters through video conferencing on a "large scale", reported Bar and Bench.

An observation to this effect was made by a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a bail application.

The Bench of Justices L Nageshwara Rao, Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna hinted at the same while hearing a bail application. It was observed that the matter would be taken up urgently when hearings begin on larger scale.

The current doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in Delhi stands now at 11 days, said health minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday. "The doubling rate in Delhi is 11 days now. The doubling rate had once reached 3 or 4 days. If the doubling rate reaches 18, 20 or 25, then we will be more comfortable," said Jain.

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the National Capital is now at 33 percent after 2,512 patients were cured.

"383 people have been cured/discharged taking the total number of recovered cases to 2512," he further said.

With 406 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Delhi in the past 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases in the National Capital climbed to 7,639, said health minister Satyendra Jain.

The COVID-19 toll in the Union Territory reached 86 after 13 more fatalities were reported since yesterday, said Jain.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on the COVID-19 situation at 8 pm on Tuesday, tweeted the Office of the Prime Minister of India.

Modi is likely to discuss about the possible extension of lockdown, imposed in view of coronavirus, for red zone districts.

Twenty-three people tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Tuesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 437, a health department official said.

With this, the number of active coronavirus cases stood at 349 in Odisha, while 85 people have recovered from the disease. Three persons have died of the infection in the state.

The Railway Ministry in a tweet said it is compulsory for all passengers to download the Aarogya Setu app before commencing their journey. Meanwhile, an Assistant Sub-inspector of CISF deployed in Kolkata lost his life last night due to COVID-19 infection on Tuesday.

As part of Samudra Setu Mission, Indian navy ship INS Jalashwa will sail again from Maldives capital of Male on Friday bringing back residents of Kerala and Lakshadweep. The ship had earlier brought back 698 Indians to Kochi on Sunday.

The ship, in its second ferry, was scheduled to bring people to Tuticorin but destination was changed since necessary approvals from Tamil Nadu government were not received.

With 47 more individuals testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state climbed to 4,305, said the health department.

Two new COVID-19 deaths took the toll across the state to 151.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 70,756 after more 3,604 individuals tested COVID-19 positive in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry on Tuesday. The COVID-19 toll reached 2,293 across the nation.

The figure includes 46,008 active cases, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The recovery rate stood at 31.7 percent after 22,454 COVID-19 patients were cured of the infectious disease.

With passenger train services set to begin from Tuesday, the Indian Railways on Monday said reservations were issued to more than 54,000 passengers within three hours.

Within minutes after booking started, all tickets across the three AC classes were sold out for Mumbai Central-New Delhi special train till 18 May, The Times of India reported.

The government released Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states as the second equated monthly installment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant on Monday.

"This would provide them additional resources during the coronavirus crisis," the finance ministry said in a statement Monday.

The grant was recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, and an equal first installment of the grant was issued by the Centre to states on 14 March.

On Monday, the Centre released advance payments of over Rs 1,276 crore to Kerala, followed by over Rs 952 crore to Himachal Pradesh and over Rs 638 crore to Punjab. Assam received Rs 631 crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 491 crore, Uttarakhand Rs 423 crore, and West Bengal got Rs 417 crore.

As India registered a record jump of 4,213 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual interaction with chief ministers said that the biggest challenge for the country will be to ensure that the infection does not spread to rural India and that the country will have to devise a "balanced strategy" to deal with the pandemic and step up the economic activities in a gradual manner.

Separately, the Union health ministry observed that some relatively large outbreaks have been noticed in particular locations and it is important to focus on containment efforts to ensure that the country does not reach the community transmission stage.

Representational image. PTI

The government also said the coronavirus tracking app Aarogya Setu is secure as it was designed keeping in mind privacy of people and is playing a crucial role in India's fight against COVID-19.