Innholdsfortegnelse for May 25, 2020 i India Today

After 48 days of lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a much-awaited stimulus package on May 12. As part of it, he offered an economic stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore ($266 billion), or 10 per cent of India’s GDP, among the highest in the world. It is in keeping with the revival packages announced by major economies—the $2.2 trillion dollar lifeline by the US, which is 13 per cent of its economy, or Japan’s $1 trillion, which is 21 per cent of its economy. However, India’s package included the Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 and the Rs 7.9 lakh crore stimuli administered by the RBI between February and April. Prime Minister Modi laid out his vision for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’…

UTTAR PRADESH: Industry has been exempted from all labour laws, except the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Act of 1996, Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1923, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 and a section of the Payment of Wages Act of 1936 RAJASTHAN: Amended the Industrial Disputes (Rajasthan Amendment) Act, 2014, to raise the threshold for layoffs and retrenchment to units with 300 workers, from 100 earlier MADHYA PRADESH: Establishments with up to 100 workers can now hire as per need. New manufacturing units have been exempted for the next 1,000 days from all but some provisions of the Factories Act of 1948. Factory licences will be issued within 24 hours and renewals will be given for a decade instead of one year. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can…

Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh had to ask chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh to sit out the May 11 cabinet meeting after three key ministers—Manpreet Badal, Charanjit Singh Channi and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwasaid they wouldn’t attend if he was present. The three had a run-in with Avtar Singh last week over the state’s “faulty excise policy”. Allegations were also made about Avtar Singh’s son having interests in the liquor business. An unheard-of fallout: Punjab’s liquor vends are closed again till the issue is resolved.…

Force majeure is governed by Section 32 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and frees parties of contractual obligations in the event of a war, riot, epidemic or other ‘act of God’ (natural calamities). Section 56 of the Act relates to the ‘doctrine of frustration’, which refers to a change in circumstances that render it impossible to enforce a contract. “Parties use Sec. 56 when force majeure is not mentioned in their contracts,” says legal expert Jeevesh Mehta. For instance, he says, if an event company had booked a concert that was impossible to hold during the lockdown, it would be considered a ‘frustration of contract’ because the contract cannot be executed. “In such a situation, the event company would have to return any advance it may have taken.”…

Having been in the cinema industry for the past 30 years, I do have passionate views about its place in our lives as the most affordable and enjoyable out-of-home entertainment, as also on reviving the fortunes of this industry. I’ll get to the specifics of how to engineer this revival presently but don’t judge my views by the title of this piece. To resolve any stress between malls and theatres, the pandemic should be declared a force majeure event The catastrophes of the past century did not prepare us for the depredations of this pandemic. Countries, governments and world leaders are improvising solutions on the run, and have responded disparately. But the so-called toss-up between lives and livelihoods baffles me. Without a doubt, life comes first, but livelihoods too need…

BLACK MONEY: PM Modi’s tenure has seen five big moves against black money: the Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act (2015); the Income Declaration Scheme and PM Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (both in 2016), aimed at disclosure of unaccounted-for incomes; the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act (2016); and rigorous tax surveys/ searches. Modi said in Aug. 2017 that black money worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore had been unearthed. DEMONETISATION: The Modi government’s surprise decision, on Nov. 8, 2016, to declare Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes null and void achieved limited success. The RBI reported that over 99 per cent of the demonetised currency eventually returned to the banking system. Demonetisation squeezed cash out of the economy, hitting micro and small enterprises and the country’s informal sector hard and caused…

INDIA GDP GROWTH RATE PROJECTIONS (2020-21) (in %) Sources: CMIE, RBI, MOSPI TOOLS DOWN Job losses from the lockdown have hit rural and urban India alike MONEY FLOWS OUT Overseas portfolio investors are pulling out of India for safer havens Jan. 2020 2,415 CRORE Feb. 2020 1,172 CRORE Mar. 2020 1,10,000 CRORE Apr. 1-9 2020 9,103 CRORE THE PRICE FEAR Inflation may rise if post-lock-down demand exceeds supply CPI: Consumer Price Index WPI: Wholesale Price Index SAVING GRACE Plunging oil prices are a breather for India’s import bill Source: BT Research…

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) form the lifeblood of the Indian economy. With the Covid pandemic and the resultant lockdown pushing millions of India’s small businesses to the brink, the first tranche of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Rs 20 lakh crore package includes a slew of measures to support the sector that contributes nearly 29 per cent to the country’s GDP. Even as the government takes on a massive risk of underwriting loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore, the announcement has evoked a mixed reaction—while some economists have endorsed its ‘bang for the buck’, MSME bodies have expressed their disappointment with the failure of the measures to address their immediate concerns. Group Editorial Director (Publishing) RAJ CHENGAPPA and Deputy Editor SHWWETA PUNJ spoke to Union minister of MSME and…

548 doctors, nurses and paramedics infected due to poor PPE supply 4,300 positive cases linked to a Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi sent numbers skyrocketing in April 40,000-50,000 migrants moved back home from urban centres in overcrowded buses ₹ 2,500 ₹ 6,400 Cost of a PCR test in Uttar Pradesh and at a private hospital in Mumbai, respectively 13 Tests per million conducted at the start of lockdown; the initial dependence on thermal scanning led to infection spreading through asymptomatic carriers 5,305 Tests per million done in Delhi, compared to only 312 tests per million in Bihar, highlighting varying test rates between states 500,000 poor quality rapid test kits forced states depending on them to rethink test strategies…

INSURANCE COVER TO HEALTH WORKERS FIGHTING COVID-19 Objective The insurance scheme provides a personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh for loss of life due to COVID-19 and accidental death due to COVID-19-related duty. It’s valid for a period of 90 days from March 30 Coverage 2.2 MILLION health workers Status Government has appointed New India Assurance Company Limited to provide cover; inclusion criteria and paperwork slowing down progress; government silent on status Total money spent NA CASH TRANSFER TO JAN DHAN ACCOUNT- HOLDERS Objective Women Jan Dhan account-holders to get a cash transfer of Rs 500 per month for the next three months Coverage 200 MILLION Status 100 per cent got money in April, 55.7 million got second instalment till May 6 Total money spent ₹12,810 CR ADDITIONAL FUND…

Category: Rs 2,000 under PM Kisan Sam-man Nidhi Status: Denied registration Shankar Lal has not received the Rs 2,000 instalment from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi so far. His family has four acres of land in which he has a one-acre share. He says he has given all the documents required for registration to the patwari and raised the matter with the revenue official, but has yet to receive the money in his account. Lal’s issue seems to be more a problem at the data feeding end in the tehsil office as some other villagers have received the amount. Till then, Lal says, the additional allotment of rice his family received as a National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiary has helped them tide over a difficult period.…

Promising 5 kg grains and 1 kg chana per family per month for two months to stranded migrants neither covered under the National Food Security Act, nor state card beneficiaries in the state they are stranded in Announcing a ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ policy covering 670 million beneficiaries (83 per cent of those eligible under Public Distribution System), by August, and extending this to cover 100 per cent by March 2021 A scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to convert available government-funded vacant houses in cities into affordable rental housing complexes under public-private partnership mode…

Reach interstate agreements to ensure employers provide workers better living and working conditions, including health insurance and education for their families Set up a ministry for migrant welfare and an adequate authority to help domestic migrants effectively as the single point of contact Undertake enumeration of migration settlements and high migration areas in cities, recognise them as legitimate urban citizens and accommodate their numbers in the planning of crucial urban programmes Announce immediate relief packages for small enterprises employing migrant workers, which the states must implement effectively by relying on local bodies that can reach out to high migrant areas Universalise PDS even during normal times, so migrants do not have to rely on expensive private providers, where they often spend over 50 per cent of their incomes Invest in…

What will social life be like once the extended lock-down ends? Will we hug our friends again, shake strangers’ hands? How many times a day will we feel compelled to wash our hands, for 20 seconds each time of course? How will we treat those who commit the crime of coughing or sneezing in public spaces? If you have a fever, should you automatically self-quarantine so as not to be caught out by a thermal scanner? Perhaps we should be prepared for at least an initial period of paranoia, frayed tempers, and the zealous policing of public behaviour. “There is frustration with other people not following norms of social distancing,” says Kanika K. Ahuja, associate professor in the department of psychology at the Lady Shri Ram College for Women in…

In his May 12 address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised India for achieving self-sufficiency in personal protection equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. But it’s the PM’s own endorsement of the gamchha that’s making waves. Modi has sported one in most of his public appearances since April 14, when he appeared in a Manipuri meitei lengyan (top left) to cover his face. He has worn several such Indian stoles to public engagements, rarely repeating the same scarf.…

A social media war is on between the ruling JD(U) and the opposition RJD in Bihar. JD(U) spokesperson Nikhil Mandal accused RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav of being a serial escapist, since he goes missing from the capital every time there’s a disaster—from floods to the pandemic. RJD leader Mritunjay Tewari shot back, saying Tejashwi—currently locked down in Delhi—lives in the people’s hearts unlike some of the ruling NDA leaders. With state elections just six months away, we haven’t heard the last on this one.…

IT was towards the end of March and Prashant (name changed), an arts stream student in one of Delhi’s top private schools, had just finished his Plus 2 board exams and was all set to have “some fun”. But then COVID-19 and the lockdown spoilt all his plans and confined him to his room. Worse, the ‘fun’ has gone sideways and now he fears he’ll have to spend time in a police lock-up. Prashant was part of the now infamous Instagram group, ‘Bois Locker Room’, which came to light on May 3 when a Delhi girl shared screenshots of the sexually explicit conversations in the group. The viral post had students of Delhi’s prominent schools boasting about their sexual escapades, sharing nude/ morphed photographs of girl students and bodyshaming them.…

JURY MEMBERS INCLUDED EMINENT LEADERS FROM COMPANIES LIKE GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, PHILIPS, THOMSON REUTERS, ROBERT BOSH, PAYODA TECHNOLOGIES, THOUGHT-WORKS, AND STEALTH MODE. The spread of COVID -19 is on the rise. In light of the current situation, Vellore Institute of Technology, Bhopal (VIT), School of Computing Science and Engineering (SCCE) has organised an online National Level Hackathon, ‘HackCoVIT 2020’. Aimed at helping people during the global pandemic, students up to Undergraduate level participated and exhibited their skills, from across 127 institutions from 19 different states in the event. The participants were given 32 problem statements, under five diverse themes to conceive solutions. Jury members included eminent leaders from companies like Google, Microsoft, Philips, Thomson Reuters, Robert Bosh, Payoda Technologies, thought-works, and Stealth mode. In a first, the institution has also released…

LOW AGRICULTURE (205.3 MN) ELECTRICITY & WATER SUPPLY (2.7 MN) MEDIUM SERVICES (144.4 MN) TRADE (46.9 MN) OTHER SERVICES (65.9 MN) MINING & QUARRYING (1.9 MN) HIGH INDUSTRY (115.3 MN) CONSTRUCTION (54.3 MN) MANUFACTURING (56.4 MN) TRANSPORT (22.9 MN) ACCOMMODATION & FOOD SERVICES (8.7 MN) Self-employed Casual labour Regular wage/ salary Workforce size in brackets Source: Crisil; PLFS 2017-18…

As India reaches the cusp of a third lockdown only to prepare for Ver. 4.0, it is time to ask if the move has accomplished what it was meant to and laid the foundation for a future strategy for COVID-19. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on March 24, India had 564 Covid infections and 10 deaths. Worldwide, the global death toll had already crossed 10,000 and hospitals were fast running out of beds and ventilators. Italy was grappling with 69,176 cases, the US 42,164, and the UK 8,077. Going by their experience, India knew it had no choice but to go into lockdown. If the disease could overwhelm countries with healthcare systems far more sophisticated than ours, what chance did our fraught healthcare infrastructure have? WE HAVE…

130 No. of red zones 284 No. of orange zones A red zone can turn to green if no new infections are reported in 21 days The greatest challenge will be to prevent asymptomatic carriers from infecting high-risk individuals Aggressive testing is a must for red zones, especially in containment clusters Experts also recommend behavioural and workplace changes to help reduce infection Universal mask coverage for all age groups in all public areas Maximum possible isolation for high-risk cases, especially those above the age of 65 or with comorbidity conditions Social distancing. In areas where this is unfeasible, suspected patients must be shifted to quarantine facilities Hand hygiene; states should assist those with less resources Spitting not allowed Geo-tagging positive cases and suspected areas Protection for all employees who work…

Category: Woman Jan Dhan account-holder to be given Rs 500 every month for three months Status: Got money for April, but says it’s not enough For Gudiya Devi, a mother of three children, the Rs 500 deposited in her Jan Dhan account made little difference. Gudiya’s husband, Sanjay Prasad, used to run a roadside cart selling tea, which brought in Rs 6,000 per month, but the lockdown has dried up that avenue. “I got Rs 500 for April but it’s too little for us. I hear that ration card-holders are being paid an additional Rs 1,000 by the state government, but we don’t have a one,” says Gudiya. Their landlord has been a saviour; he still hasn’t asked them to pay the Rs 3,000 monthly rent. “We have always faced…

Q. The Other Side is your first exhibition in 15 years. Why did it take so long? Painting for me has always been a way of life. Showing art was never a compulsion, but I have continued to create in different ways. Sometimes you meet someone who inspires you, who drives you, who believes in you. Art is about all this. Q. Is ‘art’ yet another form of storytelling, or do you see it as separate from your identity as a filmmaker? I feel all art is one. One leads into another, and you can move in and out of one form and into another effortlessly. It becomes a way of life—an environment, an ambience, a way of seeing and showing, hearing and making something heard. It’s a way to…

Around 45 central laws and nearly 200 state laws regulate the working conditions of labour in India In 2019, the Narendra Modi government streamlined 44 labour laws into a set of four codes, as part of labour law reforms. While the Code on Wages Bill has been legislated, the other three—Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions; Code on Industrial Relations; and the Code on Social Security—are pending before a standing committee in the Lok Sabha These laws are, however, applicable to workers in India’s formal sector. Close to 81 per cent of all employed persons are in the informal sector, 18 per cent are in the formal sector and 0.8 per cent in the household sector…

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar recently won the gratitude of a family from Kerala in the UAE. The couple were struggling to get tickets to fly back home to perform the last rites of their four-year-old boy who had died of leukaemia. All the Vande Bharat flights to Kerala were full but the foreign minister responded immediately to a message from an Assam-based doctor and friend of the family. The Indian consulate in the UAE not only booked the family on a flight to Kochi but also paid for their tickets.…

• In April, more than two dozen students from some of Delhi’s top private schools become part of a private Instagram chatroom, where they discuss their sexual escapades, the physical appearances of girls they know and share morphed photographs of some of them nude • One boy, who is added to the group, takes a screenshot of these conversations and leaves the group • He tells his friends about the chat group; they contact the nine girls who are being commented on and whose images are being shared • One girl posts a screen-shot of the chat on her Instagram profile on May 3. It goes viral • Some others repost the chat, adding an unrelated Snapchat conversation between a boy and a girl, where the girl, assuming the fake…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the uncanny knack of turning adversity into opportunity. When he began his address to the nation on May 12—his fifth since he imposed an unprecedented nationwide lockdown—most expected him to dwell on how his government was handling the COVID-19 pandemic and on plans for an exit strategy. After all, the number of coronavirus cases since the country went into lockdown on March 25 had risen from 564 to 70,756, and over 2,293 Indians had died of the disease. The lockdown had already been extended twice and will complete 55 days on May 17 when the third phase ends. Yet, half the country’s 733 districts remain in the red and orange zones where most of the restrictions on movement will continue into Lockdown 4.0. With these…

TESTS DONE MAR. 24 22,440 (17 tests per million) MAY 11 1,673,688 (1,267 tests per million) TESTING LABS MAR. 1  1 lab MAY 13 351 labs with testing capacity of 90,000/ day DEDICATED COVID HOSPITALS MAR. 1 0 MAY 13 1,025 ICU BEDS MAR. 12 11,752 MAY 13 35,095 ISOLATION BEDS MAR. 12 1,05,890 MAY 13 8,19,965 VENTILATORS MAR. 12 6,324 MAY 13 15,692 (orders placed for another 49,000) PPE PRE-MAR. 24 47,000 kits produced per year MAY 11 200,000 kits per day * ICMR testing updates; MoHFW; The Covid Tracking Project USA; CDC…

Category: ASHA worker to get health insurance of Rs 50 lakh Status: Not insured yet As an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker, Heeramoni has to serve 298 households in five villages. She gets a monthly honorarium of Rs 3,500 from the state government. For additional work like immunisation, polio vaccination, health check-up of would-be mothers, ASHA workers get an additional Rs 3,000-4,000. COVID-19 has not only increased her workload but has also placed her on 24x7 alert. She has the preventive kit—gloves, masks and sanitisers—needed to do her duty, but has no clue about the insurance scheme. “The health insurance from the Centre would have been a big help, but I have not received any intimation so far,” she says.…