INDIA UNDER 'JANATA CURFEW' TODAY The country is observing an unprecedented shutdown today following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for a 'Janata Curfew', where people have been urged to voluntarily stay indoors to check the spread of coronavirus. Public transport will be suspended or curtailed, and all markets and shops except those dealing in essential items will be closed on the day. Cutting across party lines, chief ministers and others leaders urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew from 7 am to 9 pm, noting that "social distancing" was key to breaking the chain of infection, as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 283 after 47 new cases were detected on Saturday, the highest so far in a day, and states like Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar imposed partial lockdown till month-end. No passenger train will originate from any railway station in the country from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train services will be reduced to a bare minimum as well. Metro services, including in Delhi, will remain suspended for the day. Air carriers like GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara have announced that they will be curtailing domestic operations on Sunday. Traders' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has announced that they will keep their establishments shut across the country on Sunday. From suspending regular prayers involving large gatherings in shrines of various faiths, including Sunday mass, to disallowing jail inmates from meeting their families on the day, organisations and institutions in every sphere have announced restrictions for Sunday. Modi had on Thursday called for the 'Janata Curfew' from 7 am to 9 pm on March 22, saying no citizen, barring those in essential services, should get out of their houses, and asserted that it will be a litmus test to show India's readiness to take on the coronavirus challenge. COVID-19: PM MODI URGES CALM AS MIGRANTS LEAVE CITIES FOR HOME As lockdowns and curbs over coronavirus saw migrants flooding railway stations in big cities to rush back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged people to stay where they are. To mark the PM's call for Janata Curfew, the Railways said all 3,700 trains across the country scheduled for departure between Saturday midnight and 10 pm Sunday stand cancelled. Modi's appeal came as West Bengal and Jharkhand asked the Railways to stop trains entering their states from outside. "Never forget - precautions not panic!" Modi tweeted. "Unnecessary travels will not help you or others. In these times, every small effort on our part will leave a big impact," the PM said, reacting to tweets by people, and urging them to listen to doctors and authorities. Depending on the situation on Sunday, sources said, the government is contemplating suspending all train operations over the next several days. A decision in this regard may be taken late Sunday, though there is no official indication yet. In that case, the country may see elimination of long-distance travel options for people, especially the Railways, for the next one week. The option is being "actively" considered as a public safety move, sources said. More than 2.3 crore travel on the Railways on average daily. In an interview to TV channel ABP Ananda, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Saturday, "The problem is not Bengal. The problem is coming from outside. In other times, when we asked for special trains, the Railways never agreed. Now deliberately they are sending all to Bengal to keep their states empty. The migrant labourers who are working in other states, they can of course come back, but why does the Railways have no health examination facility? We have been asking for it for a month. Our workers are very talented. Other states use them for their benefit and drive them away when there is a crisis." The CM also urged workers coming back from other states to stay home and not venture out, and said they should not migrate in the future as there were enough opportunities in West Bengal. Chief Secretaries of West Bengal and Jharkhand wrote to the Railways seeking that trains entering their states be stopped. Officials expressed worry that the "extraordinary" request could prompt other states to resort to the same. COVID-19: GOVERNMENT CLEARS CORONAVIRUS TESTS FOR MORE, GUIDELINES TO ROPE IN PRIVATE LABS As the number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country climbed to 283, with 47 new cases being confirmed Saturday, the government announced a major expansion of testing to include "all hospitalised patients with severe acute respiratory illness", including pneumonia, even if they don't have any history of travel to an affected country or contact with a patient. Under the expanded testing protocol, "asymptomatic direct, high-risk contacts of confirmed cases should (also) be tested once between day 5-14 of coming in contact". This is a big leap from the earlier strategy, under which testing was limited to only symptomatic people with travel or contact history and symptomatic health workers with contact history. Expanding the testing protocol to include hospitalised patients with severe acute respiratory illness is in line with the evolving strategy to anticipate the stage of community transmission of the coronavirus. India has been criticised for not testing enough. The government's notification on the expanded protocol says it will follow a "stage-appropriate testing strategy". The government also issued guidelines for testing by private laboratories, setting a ceiling of Rs 4,500 per test - Rs 1,500 for screening and Rs 3,000 for confirmation. A test can only be done if a qualified physician has prescribed it, with appropriate biosafety precautions and home collection of samples. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, emphasised that testing will be allowed only if it has been prescribed by a registered medical practitioner. "This is not a fashion or a confidence building measure," he said. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said a total of 16,911 samples from 16,021 individuals had been tested till Saturday, 6 pm, and 315 individuals had been confirmed positive. While 23 people have recovered so far, four have died. In a video conference with representatives of pharma companies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told them that this is the time to boost production. The companies assured him that India has enough supplies for all essential pharma commodities. Amid reports of people flouting quarantine rules, Agarwal warned that they would be liable to legal action. He maintained that there has been no community transmission so far. "The effort is not to reach that phase, but when it happens, we will have to tell the country," he said. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ====================== CORONAVIRUS: LATEST GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS Close to one billion people worldwide were confined to their homes on Saturday as the global COVID-19 death toll shot past 12,000 and U.S. States rolled out lockdown measures already imposed across swathes of Europe. The COVID-19 stimulus package being negotiated by the U.S. Senate would be worth more than $2 trillion, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Saturday. "We're just trying to cover the right bases," Mr. Kudlow said as he entered the talks. "It's a problem of weeks and months, not years. We just want a bridge." Mr. Kudlow also said lawmakers are considering a payroll tax holiday for small businesses. The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, restricting movement, shutting schools and forcing millions to work from home. The Italian region of Lombardy has introduced stricter measures in a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus. Under the new rules announced late on Saturday, sport and physical activity outside, even individually, is banned. Using vending machines is forbidden. The move comes as Italy reported nearly 800 coronavirus deaths on Saturday and saw its toll for the past month reach 4,825, the highest in the world. The UK began going into complete shutdown on Saturday after the government called on bars, pubs, cinemas, theatres and all other social venues to close their doors indefinitely to the public. The decision, that would be reviewed on a month-by-month basis, came a day after another 56 people died in the UK raising death toll to 233. The German states of Bavaria and Saarland said on Friday they were imposing restrictions for two weeks that aimed to keep people inside their homes to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet the leaders of Germany's 16 states on Sunday to review measures required across the country to slow the spread of the virus, her spokesman said. Angola, Eritrea and Uganda confirmed their first cases of coronavirus, while Mauritius recorded its first death as the virus spreads across Africa despite measures by governments to hold it back. More than 1,000 cases have now been reported across Africa, according to the WHO. Pakistan on Saturday suspended all international flights for two weeks and curtailed train services as the coronavirus cases surged to 625 in the country after more pilgrims who returned from Iran tested positive for the virus. US BLAMES CHINA, RUSSIA AND IRAN FOR SPREADING 'DISINFORMATION' ON CORONAVIRUS US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Russia, China and Iran for spreading "disinformation" on COVID-19 and carrying out coordinated efforts to "disparage" American attempts towards containing the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Pompeo described the disinformation campaigns as being "pretty diffused" and urged Americans to ensure that they are getting their information from a reliable source and not a "bad actor" trying to create and flow information that they know is wrong. "I wanted to talk about the disinformation the people are seeing both on Twitter and around the world. Some of it coming from government, some of it coming from other individuals," Pompeo told reporters. He identified three countries for these "disinformation campaigns". THE REST ======== GOVT PRESSES SPECIAL FLIGHTS TO BRING THOSE STRANDED ABROAD The government mounted special flights to some overseas destinations in a last-minute bid to evacuate stranded Indians before all international flights are suspended for a week on Sunday. At the same time, unable to meet all evacuation requests, the government has asked Indians in several destinations to hunker down till March 31 by when the situation will be clear. Indian embassies have attempted to make boarding arrangements or ensure treatment at local medical facilities. Indian missions have requested all countries, especially in the Schengen zone which is under lockdown, to extend all visas of Indians that are about to expire. AMID CURBS ON HEARINGS, FAMILIES, INMATES RIOT IN BENGAL JAIL, 12 HURT At least one inmate was reported dead in a major clash believed to have been triggered by restrictions resulting from coronavirus at Dumdum Central Jail on Saturday afternoon. As prisoners ran riot, attacking police, beating up officials and setting an office on fire, police fired teargas and used lathicharge. Nearly a dozen people were injured in the clash, including officials. Several are critical and hospitalised. There was no official confirmation on the death of an inmate. While jail officials said it was a clash between two groups, sources said the inmates were agitated that the measures taken to check COVID-19 meant delay in court hearings and cancellations of meetings with families. They also demanded masks and better hygiene in the jail which houses over 2,500 inmates. The situation was only brought under control after 7 hours. ARMY CANCELS ALL POSTINGS, TROOP MOVEMENT HALTED In a fresh set of instructions, the Army has said that those on leave have been told to extend their leave till April 15 so that they don't return to their parent bases till the Covid threat subsides. Also all movement of officials and troops between one location and another has been stopped forthwith. This does not mean, any change in deployment as those mandated along borders to the west and the north are at own locations. All officers attending courses at various academies are to be retained at existing station till April 15. Officials moving on transfer have been told to stay put till April 15 REBEL CONGRESS MLAs JOIN BJP The 22 rebel Congress MLAs, whose resignation led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, yesterday officially joined the BJP, national general secretary of the party Kailash Vijayvargiya said. "All 22 former MLAs, who are part of my family, today took BJP membership at the residence of party president JP Nadda," former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently jumped ship, said. "Our 22 MLAs joined the BJP with the blessings of party president JP Nadda. All will get the party ticket," he was quoted as saying. The BJP is likely to field the Scindia loyalists in the byelections necessitated by their resignations. Our 22 MLAs joined the BJP with the blessings of party president JP Nadda. All will get the (party) ticket.- Jyotiraditya Scindia. JAMIA STUDENTS TEMPORARILY CALL OFF ANTI-CAA STIR AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK In view of the growing scare of coronavirus across the country, students of Jamia Millia Islamia on Saturday suspended their sit-in protest against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act outside the university gate number 7. "With a heavy heart but with great hope in our hearts, we temporarily suspend the ongoing 24 hours sit-in protest at Gate no. 7, JMI and appeal to all protestors to kindly take the situation with utmost seriousness and save themselves and other from this fatal illness," a statement from Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) said on the 100th day of the sit-in. COSARA BAGS LICENCE TO MAKE COVID-19 TEST KITS, SAYS WILL PRICE IT LOW Ahmedabad-based CoSara Diagnostics has become the first and only Indian company so far to receive a licence from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to manufacture coronavirus (Covid-19) diagnostic test kits. The company now plans to send sample batches to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for validation, following which it would apply for a manufacturing licence with the Gujarat government. While it did not share the exact pricing of the kits, the company's chief executive officer and ASE's managing director Mohal Sarabhai said the price would be lesser than the imported kits available in the country. Market sources peg the imported tests' price being capped at around Rs 1,000-1,200. DAY ON, UN ASKS INDIA TO HALT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The UN has called on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment or put a moratorium on it, a day after four men convicted of gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old woman were hanged in India. Responding to the hanging, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: "Our position has been clear, is that we call on all States to halt the use of capital punishment or at least put a moratorium on it." SBI OPENS CREDIT LINE FOR COVID-HIT BORROWERS Amid businesses getting affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's largest lender State Bank of India has opened an emergency credit line to meet any liquidity mismatch for its borrowers. The additional liquidity facility - Covid-19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL) - will provide funds up to Rs 200 crore and will be available till June 30, 2020, SBI said in a circular issued on Friday. The Cabinet has cleared three schemes involving a total incentive of Rs48,000 crore to boost electronics manufacturing, Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. The government is expecting to generate manufacturing revenue potential of Rs10L crore and create direct and indirect jobs for 20 L people by 2025, he said. SCRAP LTCG, TAX ON BUYBACKS, DIVIDENDS, URGE MARKETS The Street is abuzz with calls for doing away with the tax on long-term capital gains, share buybacks, and dividend income received by shareholders as a last-ditch effort to improve the dismal sentiment among market participants. Many have taken to social media to express their demands Mohandas Pai, former CEO and board member at Infosys, made a pitch for removing the tax on share buybacks. "Investors have lost Rs 35 trillion but bad tax policies are penalising open market buybacks of shares by companies," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. The then finance minister, Arun Jaitley, had introduced the tax in the 2018 Budget to be applicable at 10 per cent on gains of over Rs 1 lakh for a holding period of over one year. This year's Budget shifted the burden on paying tax on dividends from companies to shareholders. The dividend income is now added to the taxable income of the recipient and taxed at applicable rates. This has meant higher tax outgo for high net-worth individuals and promoters who would have to pay tax at a maximum marginal rate of 42.7 per cent, thus reducing cash in hand. NEW-AGE FIRMS TWEAK BUSINESS MODELS, REV UP SERVICES WITH ADD-ONS Despite the possibility of lost profits and at least a couple of missed quarters, owing to the virus spread, there are instances of bright sparks emerging. These are in the form of innovative companies that look to tweak business models and rev up new services. Among the emeging firms is Gurugram-based Zypp, an electric scooter rental app, which will start to deliver its bikes to retail consumers - with a unique add-on: A sanitary wash-down in front of the customer at the time of delivery. "As the work from home lifestyle becomes a norm, many young employees, that include millennials, may not have access to cabs. If there's an urgent need to go to a medical store or hospital, they may be in a bit of a spot," said Akash Gupta, co-founder of Zypp. "That's where our e-scooters come in. The added feature is that an individual may not want to use a cab or a car in which an infected person may have earlier sat." Zypp, founded in 2017, is available on weekly or monthly subscription basis. The prices range between Rs 650 a week and Rs 950, depending on the model. Zypp e-scooter ranges from 55 km to 70 km on a single charge. "It's greener but also definitely cleaner than a cab which folks may have used before you," said Gupta. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Doing what is right isn't the problem. It is knowing what is right. - Lyndon B Johnson OFF TRACK Three gentlemen were traveling by car from Hyderabad to Bangalore. They stop at a roadside dhaba for some tea. "I'll have a cup of tea without any milk in it," ordered one. "Make mine without sugar," said the second gentleman. "And you saab?" queried the waiter of the third. "Get me your special tea. And be sure the glass is absolutely clean!" In a short while the waiter was back with the order. "Which one," he asked, "wanted the clean glass?"