The central government has declared April 14, the birthday of B R Ambedkar, as a closed holiday for all its offices.The Centre has also notified the holiday under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, for banks.

The section(as above mentioned) says: “When the day on which a promissory note or bill of exchange is at maturity is a public holiday, the instrument shall be deemed to be due on the next preceding, business day”.

The Centre has also notified the holiday under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, for banks.

In an office memorandum, the Ministry of Personnel said that it has been decided to declare Tuesday, April 14, as a closed holiday on account of the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar for all Central government offices, including industrial establishments, throughout India.

Meanwhile, India has reported over 540 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total number of cases to 5,916 and the death toll has risen to 178, according to data compiled by Worldometer. Delhi government decided to completely seal off 20 hotspots, while Uttar Pradesh will do the same for seriously affected areas across 15 districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the situation in the country was akin to a “social emergency”, and indicated the curbs were likely to continue beyond April 14.

The total number of cases in the US are 430,271. Germany and France have also crossed the 100,000-mark. The United Kingdom has recorded its highest daily death toll, at 938, bringing the number of total coronavirus-linked fatalities to 7,097. While Spain reported another 757 deaths over the past 24 hours, Wuhan began allowing people to leave for the first time since the central Chinese city was sealed off 76 days ago to contain the coronavirus.

At least 11 Indians have died of COVID-19 in the United States with another 16 testings positive for the infection which has claimed more than 14,000 lives in the US. All Indian citizens who have succumbed to the deadly infection in the US are male, with ten of them from the New York and New Jersey areas. Four of the victims are said to be taxi drivers in New York City.