Festive Season

Amid festive season, the Maharashtra Government led by Eknath Shinde announced a Diwali package. October 4, the Maharashtra Cabinet approved Diwali package for ration card holders, announced Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He said ration card holders will get in Rs 100 rava, sugar, Chana Dal and edible oil. The announced offer would be eligible to people holding White Ration cards in the State.

Firecrackers, sky lanterns and other pyrotechnic materials have been banned by Mizoram. Furthermore, selling and buying of toy guns with bullets during Christmas and New Year, was also banned by the government. Reportedly, regular checks on shops are conducted by a special team  of the state district. Moreover, the government requested the public to celebrate without bursting crackers and causing pollution. 

During the upcoming festive season, about 60% of households are set to spend money on shopping, revealed a survey conducted by the online platform LocalCircles. The survey registered 1.15 lakh responses from over 38,000 households situated in 396 districts across India. Reportedly, 35% of households will shop considering 'budget' followed by 'safety', 'convenience', selection or range, and other aspects. However, most of the households will… read-more

According to the government's data, October 2020's power consumption is expected to surpass the consumption amount of October 2019, which was 97.84 billion units. The data stated that current consumption for October 1-15 stood at 55.37 billion units (BU) as against the 49.67 BU for the corresponding period in 2019. Reportedly, the consumption was much low since the lockdown, but started gaining momentum after the 'unlock' began.

LocalCircles, a community social media platform conducted a survey about people’s travel preferences post Covid-19, during the upcoming festive season. It has been revealed that only 19% of Indians are open to traveling in the period of October-December. The survey was conducted on 25,000 people across 239 districts. Also, those willing to travel in this period would prefer to do the bookings close to the travel dates, the survey found.