1. Congress Tells Govt to Ease ‘Devastating’ Lockdown, Let States Plan Own Roadmaps
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with chief ministers, the Congress on Thursday said a lockdown of “the present nature” was unsustainable and cannot continue. Asking the government to come out with a “detailed exit strategy” in the 10 days left for this phase of the lockdown to end on May 3, the main opposition party accused it of not taking any concrete steps to revive the economy.
The party’s stance, formulated at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), is expected to be articulated by its chief ministers during their interaction with the PM on Monday.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Virus Spread Slowed by a Month of Lockdown: Govt
Medical experts and government officials steering India’s battle against COVID-19 said on Thursday that the country’s prophylactic measures have led to a reduction in the disease’s doubling rate while allowing the ramping up of testing and the bolstering of health care preparedness.
Detailing India’s evolving strategy against the pandemic, environment secretary CK Mishra, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria, and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Dr Balram Bhargava stressed that the focus has been on expanding the testing base, tracing contacts across the community to detect the spread of infection, and scaling up health care infrastructure to prepare for a spike in cases.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Stigma Attached to COVID Can Cause More Deaths: AIIMS Head
Stigmatising of COVID-19 patients and their families is resulting in cases turning up late at hospitals, with heightened breathlessness, and this could mean increased morbidity and mortality, Dr Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said on Thursday.
According to Dr Guleria, the disease can be treated successfully in most cases and 80% of patients need only supportive care, while 20% would require enhanced attention and of these 5% need ventilators.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Only 10% Free Pulses Under Govt Scheme Distributed to Poor so Far
Announced as part of the COVID-19 relief package about a month ago, free pulses — 1 kg per family — to beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are yet to reach many households in the economically poor strata.
Out of the total monthly allocation of 1.95 lakh metric ton (LMT) pulses under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), barely 19,496 ton have been distributed by the states till Wednesday, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which is monitoring supply of essential items during the nationwide lockdown.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Mamata Hits the Streets, Speaks Directly to Locked-Down Kolkata
It’s 4 pm on Thursday, and a white SUV is parked at Moulali in central Kolkata — normally one of the city’s busiest street junctions, now deserted. A familiar voice rings through the neighbourhood, amplified by loudspeakers perched on lamp posts up to a radius of perhaps half a kilometre.
“Aami Mamata Banerjee (I am Mamata Banerjee),” it echoes in the silence of the lockdown. “Aapnader kaachhe eshechhi; aamay khoma korun aapnader saathe dekha korte parchhina, gaadi theke naamte parchhi na (I have come to you; forgive me for not being able to get out of the car to meet you).”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Cox and Kings: Audit Uncovers Siphoning of Crores, Fudging of Records and Bogus Sales
Transactions worth Rs 21,000 crore over four years (2015-2019) done mainly to siphon off funds; falsifying records; a Rs 1,100-crore loan from a “brother to a brother” that violated basic fiduciary norms; sales worth Rs 9,000 crore to over 160 customers who are bogus or do not exist, inflated bank balances and a string of defaults — these are among a slew of alleged irregularities highlighted in the forensic audit of bankrupt travel firm Cox and Kings, The Indian Express has learnt.
Records of the audit, done in February 2020 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) at the behest of lender Yes Bank, and official records accessed by The Indian Express detail how the company allegedly fudged records and window-dressed its figures.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. India to Take a 23% Hit on Remittances: World Bank
Remittance flows into India may decline by 23% in 2020 to $64 billion, the sharpest fall in recent history, due to declining oil prices and the Covid-19-led global recession, said a World Bank report.
The loss of employment and wages for migrant workers in Gulf countries will contribute significantly to the drop in remittances to India, it added.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. COVID-19 Update: BJP Calls for New Manufacturing Policy to Revive Economy
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has submitted a report based on consultations with stakeholders and industry leaders to the Centre and suggested a new manufacturing policy to help India revive its economy as well cut its dependence on imports particularly from China, people aware of the matter said.
It held consultations with four groups of stakeholders between April 3 and 10 to suggest the way out of the current economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The report collating the feedback was submitted on April 10.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Complaints Against PDS Dealers in Jharkhand, Bihar Amid Food Crisis
Earlier this week, Jharkhand’s grievance helpline 181 received four calls from Palamu on a single day. All the callers had a similar complaint: though the state had promised 70 kg rice in April, their ration dealer in Medininagar wasn’t giving them the entire amount and had, in fact, confiscated the ration cards of 50 others. The details were forwarded to the district supply officer, who suspended the licence of the dealer and attached the customers to another dealer.
In Jharkhand and Bihar, the food crisis triggered by the lockdown has put a spotlight on an old problem — leakages and corruption in the the Public Distribution System.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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