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Hindustan Times Dated: April 22, 2020 By: HT Correspondent The sweeping shutdowns across the world appear to have absorbed what may only be the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, according to officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and findings by researchers in France – one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. The assessment is based on the number of people who appear to have contracted and recovered from the disease – the only way to develop an immunity till the time a vaccine is developed – which, according to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “was not more than 2-3%”. “Early data suggests that a relatively small percentage of the populations may have been infected, even in heavily affected areas,” Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva on Monday, after warning that the “the worst is yet ahead of us”. The estimates were based on detection of antibodies in the regions where blood tests have been carried out. The fi

Business Standard Dated: April 22, 2020 By: BS Web Team and agencies President  Donald Trump   has said that he will halt issuing of new   Green Cards   or legal permanent residency for the next 60 days as part of his executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the US. However, the move will not have any impact on those entering the country on a temporary basis, Trump said on Tuesday. Many have interpreted that those on non-immigrant work visas like H-1B issued mainly to foreign technology professionals will not be impacted. Seasonal immigrant workers for agricultural purposes too will not be impacted. In any case, the executive order to be signed by Trump on Wednesday will impact a large number of tens and thousands of Indian Americans, who are waiting to get a green card. This is expected to further delay the process. "We must first take care of the American worker... This pause will be in effect for 60 days, after which need for any extension or m

Business Standard Dated; April 22, 2020 By: Dilasha Seth With the economy at a standstill because of the lockdown, the Centre is crowding in ideas for revival from the industry. Key demands and suggestions include improving liquidity, cutting customs duties and goods and services tax (GST) rates, expediting all refunds and a halt on tax scrutiny and searches till the year-end. Officers across departments and ministries have been asked to speak to people across sectors for ‘SWOT' analysis of issues for revival of the economy. Besides identifying bottlenecks for various sectors, the government is also asking for a wish list from the industry at a time when the global economy is slipping into a recession. “The government recognises that these are unprecedented times and industry will have to be taken on board to overcome the crisis. Ensuring liquidity is one of the top demands. However, all departments are trying to understand even micro issues hurting

The Indian Express Dated: April 22, 2020 By: Janmejaya Sinha Imagine in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis (that almost pushed the US and Soviet Union into a nuclear confrontation) there was an outbreak of the Spanish flu and the US was still on the gold standard. The current crisis needs to be appreciated by India similarly. It requires a medical cure to kill the fear, effective economic actions and sophisticated geopolitical navigation. We all recognise that until an anti-viral is found, there will be fear, and life will return to normal only after a vaccine is available at scale. The virus currently has many more unknowns than knowns. We don’t know for sure how it spreads, whether people can get re-infected, whether it is mutating, whether the hot weather kills it, and what the real fatality rate is. We don’t know for sure how far we are from an anti-viral. We know, however, that we are at least 18 months away from having a vaccine that works and is available at scale

The Indian Express Dated: April 22, 2020 By: ENS Economic Bureau THE WTI (West Texas Intermediate) oil price crash might not translate into a sharp lowering of prices at retail pumps for consumers in India, given that the cost of the Indian basket of crude — the average of Oman, Dubai and Brent crude — was at around $24.44 a barrel as on April 20, according to a government official. Besides, a senior executive with an OMC said, given the high tax component in India and the government’s tendency to hike levies when input prices drop, the consumers may not get the desired relief. The government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre last month, the largest single hike in duty since 2012, in order to improve revenue position. Another factor that could hamper transmission of price reduction is the sharp surge in shipment costs, which account for nearly one third of the landed cost of crude oil in India and have risen almost five-fold in April compare

Money control Dated: April 22, 2020 By: Moneycontrol.com Facebook has bought a 9.9% stake in Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore), the telecom unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in a deal that gives the social media giant a firm foothold in a fast-growing massive market and helps the Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate to significantly cut debt. The deal values Jio at Rs 4.62 lakh crore ($65.95 billion). Commenting on the deal, RIL said this is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the technology sector in India. The investment values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization, within just three and a half years of launch of commercial services, it said in a statement. Facebook said, "This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country. In less than

Business Standard April 22, 2020 By: Puneet Wadhwa Even though Facebook may have picked 9.99 per cent stake in Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio (RJio), analysts believe Bharti Airtel remains a ‘direct way’ to play the changing fortunes of the Indian telecom sector. That said, the Facebook-Reliance deal lends confidence in the Indian telecom sector and paves the way for RIL to become a net debt-free company by 2021, they say. On Wednesday, California-based Facebook and Reliance Industries (RIL)-owned Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) announced that the former would invest Rs 43,547 crore ($5.7 billion) in JPL to expand its presence in India. This will be Facebook's biggest minority shareholding ever and the largest foreign direct investment for minority investment in India. The markets took note of the development and RIL surged nearly 7 per cent in morning deals to Rs 1,326 levels on the BSE. Analysts at Credit Suisse say the deal follows the restructuri

Financial Express Dated: April 21, 2020 By: Kshitij Bhargava The loan moratorium, as suggested by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month and subsequently implemented by various lenders across the country, might be able to provide some temporary relief for now but could also play a hand in changing the credit landscape of the banking sector. Countries across Asia have taken various measures to fight the economic impact of coronavirus pandemic. Almost all major Asian economies have announced a debt repayment holiday, tax relief, have transferred cash to households and have focused on monetary policy easing. At present Moody’s has a negative outlook for 16 banking systems in the Asia Pacific. “Banking sector profitability will also decline because of higher loan-loss provisions from deteriorating asset quality, lower net interest margins due to lower policy rates, and lower fee income on subdued business activity,” the credit-rating agency said. Further, Moody’s is expec

The Print Dated: April 21, 2020 By: Remya Nair The Indian economy’s performance will pick up in the second half of the fiscal, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s projection of a 1.9 per cent growth for India in 2020-21 may be a reasonable estimate, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said Monday. In a conversation with ThePrint’s Editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, Subramanian said, “There will be an adverse impact on the Indian economy due to Covid-19. The IMF estimate of 1.9 per cent growth (in 2020-21) is a reasonable estimate.” He added, “The growth in the April-June quarter will be badly hit. The next quarter will be better and economic performance should pick up in the second half of the year.” Subramanian pointed out that consumers who have postponed their discretionary spending, like buying homes or cars, are likely to resume purchases once the situation improves. The CEA also said that the Narendra Modi government is looking at attrac

Business Line Dated: April 21, 2020 By: PTI New York Pakistan has quietly removed around 1,800 terrorists from its watch list, including that of the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, ahead of a new round of assessments by the global anti-money-laundering watchdog FATF, according to a US-based start-up that automates watchlist compliance. The so-called proscribed persons list, which is maintained by Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority or NACTA, is intended in part to help financial institutions avoid doing business with or processing transactions of suspected terrorists. The list in 2018 contained about 7,600 names. It has been reduced to under 3,800 in the past 18 months, according to Castellum.AI, a New York-based regulatory technology company. About 1,800 of the names have been removed since the beginning of March, according to data collected by Castellum. Pakistan is working to implement an action plan tha