The finance ministry on Thursday extended the renewal dates of health and motor insurance policies falling during the nationwide lockdown period till May 15 to ensure continuity.
This extension is for policies that are due for renewal between March 25 and May 3.
'With a view to mitigate hardship to policyholders whose health & motor (third party) insurance policies are due for renewal during COVID-19 lockdown, Govt. has issued notification allowing policyholders to make payments on or before 15.05.2020 towards renewal of their policies,' the finance ministry said in a tweet.
The finance ministry in two separate notifications said policy holders whose motor insurance third party insurance or health insurance policies that are due in the lockdown period from March 25 up to May 3 and who are unable to make payment of their renewal premium on time due to the lockdown are allowed to make such payments till May 15.
The notifications assured policy holders of continuity of motor insurance third party cover as well as health insurance cover and assured that any valid claim during the period will be paid.
These notifications have been necessitated as the lockdown period was extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi till May 3 to check the spread of Covid-19.
It is expected that similar extension will be effected for life insurance renewal policy also through a separate notification.
In case of health insurance, if a policy holder fails to pay the premium by the renewal date, he/she gets a certain grace period to pay it. The policy can be renewed by paying the renewal premium during this grace period.
However, during the grace period, the policyholder is not covered and cannot file any claim for any medical or health event/accident/treatment taken during the grace period.
Driving a vehicle without a valid third party insurance is a crime and can attract fine under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act.
In case of damage to a third party (somebody else's car or property) or death of a third party (person) during the lapse period, the person would be liable to pay entire compensation on his/her own.
Cases rise to 12,759, death toll touches 420
Death toll due to Covid-19 rises to 420 in country; cases climb to 12,759: Health Ministry.
People follow social-distancing guidelines, waiting in queues outside a government store, to collect free ration under Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojna, during ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, in Lucknow, Wednesday, April 15, 2020 PTI
Zoom not a safe meeting platform, not to be used for official purposes by government officials: Home Ministry
The Home ministry has directed government officials to not use zoom as a meeting platform for official purposes. The warning, earlier issued by Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In), was reiterated by the Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of the Home Ministry in an advisory.
'This advisory states that the platform is not for use by government officers/officials for official purposes,' a statement from the ministry said.
Zoom became a popular application for executives conducting meetings while working from home during the countrywide lockdown announced by the central government to contain coronavirus pandemic in the country.
'The document makes reference to earlier advisories of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) and states that Zoom is not a safe platform. The guidelines have been issued to safeguard private individuals who would still like to use the platform for private purposes,' the ministry said.
It said the advisory has been issued to prevent any unauthorized entry into a Zoom conference room and to prevent unauthorized participants to carry out malicious attacks on the terminals of other users in the conference.
Pune death toll 46
Three COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune died due to the infection since Wednesday night, taking the death toll in the district to 46, an official said on Thursday.
The death of these three patients with co-morbid conditions took the number of persons who succumbed the infection at this hospital to 37, the official said.
'A 65-year-old woman from Shivajinagar area, who had co-morbid health condition, died on Wednesday night,' an official of the Sassoon General Hospital said.
On Thursday, a 54-year-old man with diabetic ketoacidosis and a 47-year-old woman suffering from a diabetic kidney ailment succumbed to the infection,' the official said.
With this, the virus has so far claimed 46 lives in Pune district, he added. Till Wednesday evening, there were 437 coronavirus cases in the district.
1,112 inmates released in Karnataka
Karnataka jail authorities till date have released 1,112 prisoners on interim bail and parole for decongesting prisons in view of Covid-19 outbreak.
'Till today we have released 1,112, out of which convicts are 405-who have got parole, and under trials are 707- who have got bail,' Karnataka director-general of police (prisons and correctional services) Alok Mohan told PTI.
He said, based on the Supreme Court's directive, a high powered committee was constituted in Karnataka under the chairmanship of a high court judge, who is also the executive chairman of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, comprising DGP (prisons) and principle home secretary, who is in-charge of prisons.
'The committee formulated certain yardsticks on which to provide interim bail and parole to the prisoners,' he said, adding that under trails with offences entailing up to 7-year jail term get the bail and convicts get parole as per the eligibility under the Karnataka government rules.
Curfew in parts of Gujarat
The Gujarat government has decided to impose curfew in five-densely populated areas of Surat from Thursday midnight to contain the spread of coronavirus, an official in the Chief Minister's Office said.
These areas fall under the jurisdiction of Salabatpura, Mahidharpura, Lalgate, Athwalines and Limbayat police stations, CMO secretary Ashwani Kumar said.
The curfew will remain in force till April 22, and a three-hour relaxation will be given from 1pm to 4pm on these days, Kumar said.
Assam releases 1,659 inmates to decongest prisons
A total of 1,659 inmates have been released from 31 jails across Assam as per the Supreme Court guidelines to decongest prisons in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said on Thursday.
Assam inspector-general of prisons Dasarath Das said the authorities are considering to release more prisoners in the coming days and evaluating proposals for sending to the Centre for consideration.
'As per the guidelines, we have released a total of 1,659 inmates so far from different jails across the state since the coronavirus crisis emerged. This includes 1,591 undertrials, who were released on bail and personal bonds,' he told PTI.
Das said that another 68, who are convicts, have been allowed to go home on annual leave from different jails.
Eligible convicts get 30 days of annual leaves for emergency purposes as per the rule.
'We have received proposals of parole from 18 convicts and they are eligible for that. So, we will release them in a day or two,' the IG said.
He further informed that the jails had released a huge number of inmates under remission during the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
'We are looking at it again now. If we find such eligible prisoners, we will send the proposals to the Government of India for consideration,' Das said.
Civil aviation ministry likely to come up with guidelines for ticket cancellation
The civil aviation ministry on Thursday said it is deliberating upon forming a set of guidelines on refunds for flight ticket cancellations due to coronavirus lockdown.
Several people have been complaining on social media as domestic airlines have decided not to give refunds in cash for cancelled flights due to the lockdown and instead issue credit for future travel.
'A video meeting was held (with the airline CEOs). The ministry is deliberating (on guidelines),' said the ministry spokesperson.
Senior officials of ministry of civil aviation and CEOs of Indian airlines companies met on Wednesday afternoon on the issue of cancellation refunds during the coronavirus lockdown period.
Farmers carry vegetables to a wholesale market for sale during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Patna, Thursday, April 16, 2020 PTI
Telangana cabinet to discuss lockdown measures on April 19
The Telangana cabinet, which would meet on April 19, is expected to discuss Covid-19 containment measures and whether to continue lockdown in the state strictly, as it is being implemented now, till May 3, or to give some concessions in line with the Centre's thinking.
The meeting, to be presided by chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, would be held in the afternoon on April 19 at Pragati Bhavan, the CM's official residence-cum-camp office, an official release said on Thursday.
The cabinet would discuss coronavirus containment measures in the state and the implementation of lockdown, it said.
'The cabinet is also expected to discuss whether the lockdown being implemented strictly in the state should be continued till May 3 or in tune with the thinking of the Centre, whether to give some concessions after April 20 or not and accordingly it will take a decision,' it said.
Andhra cases go up to 534
Nine new coronavirus positive cases were added overnight, taking the total in Andhra Pradesh to 534 on Thursday morning.
The number of active cases now stood at exactly 500 after 20 patients were discharged and another 14 have died, according to the latest government bulletin.
Three cases each were added in Kurnool, West Godavari and Krishna districts since 7 pm on Wednesday.
With 122, Guntur district tops the state chart while Kurnool is close behind with 113 cases.
With the most number of Tablighi Jamaat attendees and their contacts, these two districts are the major hotbeds of Covid-19 in the state.
Nine other districts have also been classified as hotspots while the remaining two-Srikakulam and Vizianagaram- are the only coronavirus-free districts in AP so far.
Karnataka death toll touches 13
A 66-year old man from the city, became the thirteenth Covid-19 related fatality in Karnataka, health department officials said on Thursday.
The elderly patient from Bengaluru, who was coronavirus positive died on April 15 at Victoria Hospital in the city, officials said.
'He was referred from a private hospital and was admitted in Victoria Hospital and was on ventilator support since April 10,' they added.
A 80-year old woman in Belagavi and a 65-year old man from Chikkaballapura had also died on Wednesday.
Gujarat cases rise to 871
The total number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 871 after 105 more people tested positive for the infection during the last 12 hours, a health official said on Thursday.
Among the new cases, 42 were reported from Ahmedabad, 35 from Surat, eight from Anand, six from Vadodara, four each from Banaskantha and Narmada, three from Rajkot, and one each from Gandhinagar, Kheda and Panchmahal, state principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said.
So far, 64 people from the state have been discharged after recovery, she added.
