The Evening Wrap Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: Lockdown skirmishes Several parts of the country were supposed to see some easing of lockdown restrictions starting today. But regulatory skirmishes appear to have broken out between the Centre and states. The Centre has constituted six Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs), each led by officials of the rank of Additional Secretary, to visit Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal to ensure proper implementation of the lockdown. The IMCTs will make on-the-spot assessments and issue directions to the States for redressal if needed. The civil aviation ministry, it said, will arrange the air transportation of these committee members. In a series of tweets, an MHA spokesperson said that violation of lockdown measures poses a serious health hazard, and added that the COVID-19 situation was serious in Indore, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune and many parts of West Bengal. The spokesperson mentioned incidents of violence on healthcare professionals, violations of social distancing norms, and movement of vehicles in urban areas. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee responded on Twitter. “We welcome all constructive support and suggestions, especially from the Central Government in negating the #Covid19 crisis. However, the basis on which the Centre is proposing to deploy IMCTs in select districts across India, including WB, under Disaster Mgmt Act 2005 is unclear, “ she said. The MHA has also written to the Kerala government for violation of lockdown measures. According to the letter, the additional activities allowed by the Kerala government are local workshops, barber shops, restaurants, book stores, MSMEs in municipal limits, bus travel in the cities and towns for short distances, two passengers in the back seat of cars, and pillions on scooters, which amounts to violation of the MHA order. Covid Watch - numbers and developments The number of positive coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 18,277 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 588. There have been 283 new COVID-19 positive cases in Maharashtra over a 12-hour span, taking the State's tally to 4,483. 43 more cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu, taking the total to 1520. For a more complete picture of state-wise numbers, including data on testing, follow our tracker here The governments of Delhi, Punjab and Karnataka have all said they will not allow any relaxations till the lockdown ends on May 3. Several other states have begun to allow some economic activity in parts that are designated as non-hotspots, as per the guidelines issued by the Home Ministry last week. The Health ministry said that the overall recovery rate in COVID-19 cases stand at 14.75%, and that in the last seven days, the doubling rate for new cases was 7.5, as compared to 3.4 days before the lockdown. Based on data till 19th April, 18 States have shown better performance than the national average, a spokesperson added. Faulty Kits Amid claims by the West Bengal Department of Health and Family Welfare that testing kits being supplied by ICMR-NICED about two weeks ago have started to “throw up a large number of inconclusive results”, representatives of NICED (National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease) admitted that the kits may have some glitches. “This has been noted by the ICMR as well..... It is unfortunate that the kits are not standardised by the manufacturer to give exact results... The matter is being seriously addressed by the ICMR,” NICED director Shanta Dutta told The Hindu. Mob attack in Chennai In the second such instance in a week, a mob in Chennai attacked a group of persons, including doctors, during the burial of a neurosurgeon, who had died after he tested positive for COVID-19, in a private hospital on Sunday. The body of the 55-year-old doctor, who heads a private hospital on Poonamallee High Road, was shifted from the private hospital to Chennai Corporation’s burial ground near Kilpauk on Sunday night. However, residents gathered on the road and protested. Journalists test positive At least 53 journalists have tested positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai, according to a BMC health committee member. Samples of 167 journalists had been collected for testing, of which 53 came out positive. These include reporters, photojournalists, as well as cameramen of various news organisations. Mallya loses appeal Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has lost his appeal against his extradition to India in relation to charges of fraud and money-laundering, amounting to an alleged ₹9,000 crore. “We consider that while the scope of the prima facie case found by the SDJ [Senior District Judge] is in some respects wider than that alleged by the Respondent in India [Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED)], there is a prima facie case which, in seven important respects, coincides with the allegations in India,” the judges of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, who presided over the appeal, ruled. In brief: US oil prices crashed today to nearly $11 per barrel, the lowest level since 1998. Traders are concerned that oil storage facilities are reaching their limits and stockpiles are continuing to build owing to the crash in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. | 
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