Saturday, March 28, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Coronavirus: Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr Johnson said he had developed mild symptoms over the past 24 hours, including a temperature and cough.
He is self-isolating in Downing Street but said he will "continue to lead the government's response via video-conference as we fight this virus".
It comes as another 181 people died with the virus in a day, latest government figures showed.
It takes the total number of UK deaths to 759, with 14,579 confirmed cases.
RBI cuts repo rate by 75 bps to 4.40% to mitigate Covid-19 impact The rate cut was warranted by disruptive force of coronavirus, the central bank said. ETMarkets.com|Last Updated: Mar 27, 2020, 10.54 AM IST
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finally bit the bullet on Friday and responded to the coronavirus-induced crisis with a whopping 75 basis points cut in the repo rate, bringing it down to 4.4 per cent.
The repo rate has thus fallen to the lowest ever. Before this, it had hit the lowest point of 4.74% in April 2009 in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.
The central bank also cut the cash reserve ratio or CRR by 100 basis points to 3 per cent with effect from March 28, unlocking Rs 1.37 lakh crore primary liquidity in the banking system. The reverse repo rate, too, was lowered by 90 basis points.
Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. Monetary authorities use this to control money supply in the economy, thereby inflation.
The reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows funds from commercial banks. It is the rate at which commercial banks in India park their excess money with RBI usually for the short term.
CRR or cash reserve ratio is the percentage of total deposits that banks are required to keep in reserves either in the vaults or with RBI so that the same can be given to bank’s customers if the need arises. Banks do not get any interest on this money. It is one of the major weapons in RBI’s arsenal that allows it to maintain a desired level of inflation, control money supply and liquidity in the economy. The lower the CRR, the higher liquidity with banks, which in turn goes into investment and lending and vice-versa.
The central bank advanced the policy review and the Monetary Policy Committee met over March 24, 25 and 26 to analyse the situation caused by the unprecedented lockdown of the nation and all business activities, before responding with the massive rate cut.
The rate cut was warranted by disruptive force of coronavirus, the central bank said. Four of six monetary policy committee member voted in favour of the rate cut.
"We need to be always battle ready," Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a statement, adding that "tough times never last." The Governor added that RBI was at work and is on a mission mode and will ensure the normal functioning of the markets.
Reacting to the RBI announcement, the Finance Minister said the rate cut will to encourage growth and ensure financial stability.
"Time has come for RBI to unleash an array of instruments to expand liquidity in the system sizeably and to improve monetary transmission," the FM said.
RBI also allowed banks and other lending institutions to extend the repayment schedule and moratorium by three months to avoid large NPAs and reduce risk weights. This would apply to all term loans as RBI also allowed all lending institutions to allow a moratorium up to three months for all loans outstanding as at March 1, 2020.
Large selloff in equity and bond markets has intensified redemptions, Das said, adding that "time has come for RBI to unleash an array of instruments from its arsenal to revive growth and preserve financial stability."
"It is important to mitigate burden of debt servicing now," the RBI Governor said.
He said liquidity distribution remains asymmetrical in the economy, but asserted that the Indian banking system remained safe and sound. "It would be fallacious to link share price movements to the safety of deposits," he said.“RBI has surpassed expectations by delivering more than what the market anticipated, and its promise to 'do whatever it takes' has come good,” said Rahul Bajoria, Chief India Economist, Barclays.
“The steps to ease working capital pain, reduce liquidity costs and provide moratorium on term loans will alleviate stress across various sectors. We continue to see rates dropping to 3.50% by August 2020,” he said.
Over the past few days, the central bank has taken aggressive liquidity management measures, infusing some Rs 3.80 lakh crore liquidity into the system through various repo measures undertaken on a regular basis. On Friday, the central bank was conducting a record Rs.3.5 lakh crore reverse repo exercise, aiming to correct the anomalies between two overnight interest rates.
Friday’s variable reverse repo auction would allow banks to park their excess cash in the system, sloshed with about Rs 2.60 lakh crore of liquidity. The tenor of these auctions will be 13 days. So, banks will earn interest on the money they park for the period.
HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT HAS RBI DONE
- Cuts repo rate by a whopping 75 basis points to 4.4%, lowest ever
- Lowers reverse repo rate by 90 basis points.
- Cuts CRR by 100 bps to 3%, unlock Rs 1.37 lakh crore liquidity
- Allows banks, other lenders to extend loan repayment schedule and moratorium by 3 months
- Assures depositors their money is safe, bank stocks crash should not worry them
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Military takes lead in India's war against coronavirus
By Ajai Shukla
March 26, 2020 13:05 IST
The military is mobilising to play a central role in holding patients exposed to the coronavirus, reports Ajai Shukla.
IMAGE: Indian Army personnel wears a protective mask at Guwahati railway station.
The army, navy and air force has already housed over 1,200 patients in temporary medical facilities at Manesar, Hindon, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Photograph: ANI Photo
On Wednesday, March 25, the first day of the 21-day countrywide lockdown that Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi announced on Tuesday to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a military facility in Jodhpur received 277 Indian evacuees flown in from Iran and placed them in quarantine for the next 14 days.
The military has already housed over 1,200 patients so far in temporary medical facilities at Manesar, Hindon, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. These included evacuees from Wuhan and Japan, who were discharged after observing full quarantine protocol.
'Of the over 1,200 evacuees, medical staff and air crew kept in these facilities till now, only one case of positive covid-19 has been reported so for. This does not include another case reported from the Indian Air Force facility in Hindon,' stated the ministry of defence on Wednesday.
'In addition to the above, more army medical facilities at Jhansi, Binnaguri and Gaya are kept at standby with an additional collective capacity of 1,600,' said the MoD.
The military is mobilising to play a central role in holding patients exposed to the virus. Most countries seriously impacted by the virus, including China, Italy and the United States, have pressed their militaries into service.
In New York City, US army engineers are converting the city's main convention centre -- the Javits Center -- into a 1,000-bed hospital.
The patients quarantined in Jodhpur on Wednesday include 273 pilgrims to Iran, including 149 women and six children. They were transferred on Air India flights from Delhi to Jodhpur and then taken to the medical facility, 'which has been designed not just for isolation but also mental and physical wellness, which includes various activities including sports,' said the MoD.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy has set up a quarantine camp at Vishakhapatnam, which is fully equipped to quarantine nearly 200 persons.
In addition, the navy has set up isolation facilities at its premier hospital, the Indian Navy Hospital Ship Asvini, at Mumbai.
The naval base at Kochi, which houses the southern naval command headquarters, is coordinating with Kerala health officials and Ernakulam district administration to use civilian hotels/resorts as quarantine facilities for Indian nationals, says the MoD.
The Ordnance Factory Board, which produces arms, ammunition and equipment for the military, has separately designated 285 beds as quarantine facilities.
These include 40 beds in Jabalpur, 30 beds each at Ishapore, Cossipore, Khadki, Kanpur, Khamaria and Ambajhari; 25 beds at Ambernath and 20 beds each at Avadi and Medak.
The OFB is utilising its facilities to try and manufacture personal protection equipment and face masks, in accordance with a pilot order placed by HLL Lifecare, a public sector unit under the ministry of health and family welfare.
While the army continues functioning normally on the borders, officers posted in headquarters -- who amount to 40 per cent of the overall cadre -- have been asked to function from home.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief package for poor The FM announced a slew of measures to ease the burden on the poor who will be hit hard by the lockdown. ET Online|Last Updated: Mar 26, 2020, 02.03 PM IST
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a slew of measures to deal with the economic distress caused due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown announced to deal with the situation.
The finance minister had already announced some measures on Tuesday that included extension of tax deadlines, easing minimum balance norms for savings account, and increasing threshold of insolvency filing to Rs one crore from Rs one lakh.
Here's what the FM said:
*PM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme will entail Rs 1.7 lakh crore.
*It will include both cash transfer and food security.
*Provide insurance cover worth Rs 50 lakh for sanitation workers, ASHA workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics in case they need it as they are on the frontlines of the corona battle.
*Over and above 5kg of rice/wheat that is already given, another 5 kg per person will be given free to around 80 crore people through PDS. Besides, one kg of preferred and region specific choice of pulse will also be given.
Direct cash transfer through DBT
*Farmers: First instalment of Rs 2,000 of PM Kisan will be given in first week of April. 8.69 cr farmers will get immediate benefit out of it.
*MNREGA: Increase in wage rate from Rs 182 to Rs 202 amounting to increase of Rs 2000 per worker leading to benefitting 5 crore people.
*Old age/widows: An additional ex-gratia amount of Rs 1,000 for next three months available in two instalments. It will benefit 3 crore widows and senior citizens.
*Women Jan Dhan account holders: Ex gratia of Rs 500 per month for next three months. This will benefit 20 crore women.
*Women Ujjawala scheme beneficiaries: For three months, free cylinders. Will benefit 8.3 crore BPL families.
*Women Self Help Groups: Under the Deen Dayal National Livelihood Mission, collateral free loan will be given up to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier. Impact on 7 crore holders through 63 lakh SHGs.
*Organised sector: Government of India will pay the EPF contribution both of the employer and the employee put together 24% for next three months. This is for those establishments with up to 100 employees, 90% of them earning less than Rs 15,000.
*For organised sector, EPFO regulation will be amended so that workers can draw up to 75% for their contingency expenditure non-refundable advance or three months of wages in advance whichever is less. This will benefit 4.8 cr workers.
*Construction workers: State government have been directed to use the welfare fund for building & construction labourers which has around Rs 31,000 crore to help those who are facing economic disruption because of the lockdown.
*Utilise the funds available under the district mineral fund for testing activities, medical screening, providing health attention needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) lobby group, had sought a stimulus of about 1% of the GDP or Rs 2 lakh crore, has sought a three-month moratorium on all loans and said all repayment obligations should be suspended for this period.
The Prime Minister had announced an Economic Task Force to be chaired by the finance minister.
The 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will affect the revenue stream of companies and hit hard their bottom lines. Various rating agencies have revised downwards their Q4 economic growth projections and also the growth estimates for next fiscal year FY21.
On Wednesday, Union minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the Centre is supporting various state governments in relief for the poor.
The measures come at a time when the US Senate has passed the $2 trillion aid package for the US economy that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Vodafone Idea requests DoT to clear pending spectrum allocation applications; says increasing network capacity Vodafone Idea has requested the telecom department (DoT) to clear its pending applications for spectrum allocation and regularise its backhaul spectrum as the telco ensures 4G network availability amid the ongoing pan-India 21-day lockdown. Danish KhanETTelecomMarch 26, 2020, 13:45 IST
WHAT A COINCIDENCE OF PRESENT SHUTDOWN SITUATION IN CONTEXT WITH BIBLE ISAIAH 26.20
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead. 20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed. 21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.…
Within 21 days passover shall end.
Coronavirus lockdown: Collection of toll suspended at all toll plazas across India In series of tweets minister said that "In view of Covid-19, it has been ordered to temporarily suspend the collection of toll at all toll plaza across India. This will not only reduce inconvenience to the supply of emergency services but also save critical time. Moneycontrol News @moneycontrolcom
The collection of toll at all toll plazas across India has been temporarily suspended, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari informed through Twitter.
In a series of tweets, the minister said that the move would “reduce inconvenience to the supply of emergency services” and also “save critical time”..
In view of Covid-19, it has been ordered to temporarily suspend the collection of toll at all toll plaza across India. This will not only reduce inconvenience to the supply of emergency services but also save critical time. #IndiaFightsCorona
5,033 people are talking about this
This tweet comes after the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has asked the road transport and highways ministry whether it should continue with collecting toll after a sharp drop in traffic triggered by the outbreak of the coronavirus, people familiar with the matter earlier told Moneycontrol.
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