new delhi the ministry of home affairs on saturday clarified that barber shops and salons will be allowed to open in green and orange zones during the third phase of the lockdown beginning may 4 besides sale of nonessential items by ecommerce platforms in red zones the ecommerce companies are allowed to sell only essential commodities and barber shops are not allowed to open meanwhile the death toll due to covid19 rose to 1223 and the number of cases climbed to 37776 in the country on saturdayhere are the top developments1indiaover 10000 people out of 37776 suffering from the coronavirus infection have recovered in the country so far said the union ministry of healthprime minister narendra modi held a series of meetings with key ministers including home minister amit shah and finance minister nirmala sitharaman and officials of economic ministries to firm up the second stimulus package for sectors impacted by lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus sources said the centre has asked state governments to lift foodgrain from the open market sale scheme for distribution to lockdownhit poor people not covered under the public distribution systema day after the modi government announced extension of the coronavirusinduced lockdown till may 17 the dgca said all commercial passenger flights will remain suspended till midnight of may 17the icmr is planning to study whether the novel coronavirus strain in india has undergone mutation while spreading within the country over the last two months determining whether or not the sarscov2 strain has changed form will help in ensuring the effectiveness of a potential vaccinethe armed forces have made elaborate arrangements to conduct aerial flypasts light up ships at sea and shower flower petals on several hospitals across the country on sunday to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors paramedics sanitation staff and other frontline workers engaged in fighting the coronavirus pandemicindia has placed urgent orders for at least 1145 crore tablets of hydroxychloroquine this drug is being directly procured by hll lifecare on behalf of the union health ministrythe uae sent seven metric tonnes of medical supplies to india to bolster its fight against the covid19 pandemic the gulf countrys embassy said the aid sent by plane will assist approximately 7000 medical professionals as they work to combat the virus2statesmaharashtra as many as 56 covid19 patients including a threeyearold girl were discharged at the same time from a hospital in maharashtra after recovery the state has 11506 cases of coronavirus so far delhi all 11 districts in the national capital will remain in red zone till may 17 delhi has recorded 3738 cases of coronavirus and 61 fatalities so farrajasthan the coronavirus death toll climbed to 65 after three more people including a minor succumbed to the infection in rajasthan which reported 54 fresh cases taking the total number to 2720 in the stateuttar pradesh with 127 more people testing positive for covid19 in uttar pradesh the number of confirmed cases in the state rises to 2455haryana the death toll due to covid19