CENTRAL TEAMS GO TO 4 STATES, SAY BENGAL NOT HELPING

Frosty ties between the Centre and West Bengal were on full display on

Tuesday as the two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams that landed in the state

to assesses its handling of the COVID-19 situation alleged non-cooperation

by the state government, following which Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla

shot off a letter to the Chief Secretary, asking him to comply with the

Union Home Ministry's order.

Citing frequent lockdown violations in certain states, the Home Ministry had

on Sunday said teams would be sent to the Opposition-ruled states of West

Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, besides to BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh.

In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reiterated his demand for

special trains to take migrant workers back to their home states, seeking

revised guidelines to that effect before the end of April.

The state government also withdrew the relaxed lockdown norms for Mumbai and

Pune that came into effect on April 20 as the Central team raised objections

to some of these, including beginning construction work on existing

projects.

In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that he would consider the

visit of the Central team a "success if they solved the problem faced by

states", adding that he reminded the teams that the state had "demanded a

moratorium on payment of states' dues to financial institutions under the

RBI and other Central agencies".

But it was in Bengal that the two Central teams, that arrived in the state

on Monday, got off to a rocky start. While the north Bengal team could not

move out the entire day on Tuesday, the team in Kolkata stepped out in the

morning only to be told by police to make a U-turn. During his evening press

briefing, state Chief Secretary Sinha said the administration was

"cooperating" with the teams, but also reminded that the Central teams

should have informed the state of their arrival in a "proper manner".

When asked about Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla's letter, asking him to

comply with the MHA order, Sinha said, "Everyone is busy now. We are

co-operating. But we cannot leave everything and move around with the

Central teams."

AFTER COMPLAINTS, ICMR TELLS STATES NOT TO USE RAPID TESTS FOR TWO DAYS

Following complaints that the rapid antibody test kits are showing varying

levels of accuracy, the ICMR has asked all states not to use the serological

COVID-19 tests for the next two days, pending field validation by its teams.

"We have been getting complaints that when the serological tests are being

done on the blood samples of people who have already tested positive in the

RT-PCR test, the accuracy ranges from 6% to 71%. This needs to be

investigated," Dr R R Gangakhedkar, head of epidemiology and infectious

diseases at ICMR, said.

"This is a first generation test developed in just three-and-a-half months

and needs refinement, yet the variations cannot be ignored. We will send

personnel from eight institutes to the field to validate the kits.

Meanwhile, we have advised the states not to use the tests for the next two

days till we come out with an advisory," he said.

Ahead of the gradual lifting of the lockdown, the serological tests were to

be used in hotspots, to test the population-level exposure. On April 4, the

ICMR had issued an advisory to start rapid tests in high density settings.

INDUSTRY SAYS FACING COVID PENALTY THREAT, ASKS CENTRE FOR CLARIFICATION

A day after some industries were allowed to start functioning with

conditions, both small and large companies in pockets across the country

have said that the interpretation of punitive measures for violation of

safety procedures is proving a big deterrent in resumption of operations.

In its letter to the government, the CII said, "Local administrations are

insisting that there will be criminal charge on the establishments with

order for three months shutdown if anyone in the establishment is found to

be testing positive. Establishments can be held responsible for violating

spatial or sanitary norms, but not if someone in the company gets COVID.

This needs to be clearly directed from the Central to all state

governments."

The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India, which has 13,000 members

across India, said only 10-15% of them were in the process of opening up

operations, while 40-50% are awaiting permits from states. "But, even if

these companies get permission, they are hesitant to start and might hold

back until they get clarity on whether this clause (for punitive action) is

explained, deleted or enforced," Chairman Ravi Sehgal said.

Such a clause could make efforts to restart operations in export-oriented

sectors a "non starter", especially for micro, small and medium enterprises

(MSMEs), he added.

Owners of small businesses are also concerned over the instruction to offer

residential facilities to workers, so as to ensure they are not exposed to

the virus, saying this might not be possible for them unlike larger units.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 20,080 (+1,541) / 25,57,181 (+75,894)

Total Deaths 645 (+53) / 1,77,641 (+7,205)

Total Recovered 3,975 (+702) / 6,90,444 (+43,590)

Active Cases 15,460 (+786) / 16,89,096 (+25,099)

Serious / Critical Cases (Not Available) / 57,245 (+479)

Top 6 impacted nations so far: (Country / Total No of cases / Deaths)

USA 8,19,164 / 45,340

Spain 2,04,178 / 21,282

Italy 1,83,957 / 24,648

France 1,58,050 / 20,796

Germany 1,48,453 / 5,086

UK 1,29,044 / 17,337

Top 15 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

Maharashtra 5,218 / 251

Gujarat 2,178 / 90

Delhi 2,156 / 47

Rajasthan 1,735 / 26

Tamil Nadu 1,596 / 18

Madhya Pradesh 1,552 / 80

Uttar Pradesh 1,337 / 21

Telangana 928 / 23

Andhra Pradesh 757 / 22

Kerala 426 / 2

Karnataka 418 / 17

West Bengal 392 / 15

Jammu and Kashmir 380 / 5

Haryana 255 / 3

Punjab 251 / 16

Bihar 126 / 2

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

PUTTING ALL IMMIGRATION ON HOLD, TWEETS TRUMP; INDIA WAITS FOR ORDER, FINE

PRINT

In a move that has potential repercussions for Indians living and working in

the US, President Donald Trump said he will "temporarily suspend"

immigration into the country. With the COVID-19 pandemic set to trigger

economic recession, Trump said the step would protect jobs for American

nationals.

It remains to be seen what category of visas will be suspended, and what

will be the cut-off date. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy,

as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I

will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into

the United States!" Trump posted on Twitter Tuesday morning.

SINGAPORE LOCKDOWNS TILL JUNE 1; DENMARK OPENS

The city-state of Singapore, having seen a spike in cases in the past two

days, has extended its lockdown till June 1. This is the first time any

country has officially extended its lockdown into June. Singapore's lockdown

was supposed to end on May 3.

Singapore reported 1,111 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing its

total of infections to 9,125, after a record daily jump of 1,426 on Monday.

Experts say the surge is due largely to local officials underestimating the

vulnerability of the city's migrant workers, who live in cramped dormitories

with up to 20 people in a room.

Meanwhile, Denmark has started to ease lockdown restrictions, children are

going back to school and people are getting their hair cut professionally.

On Monday, the nation said it would allow gatherings of up to 500 people

from May 10, and also rigorously test anyone who comes forward with

coronavirus symptoms.

'I WISH HIM WELL': TRUMP ON N. KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG UN

U.S. President Donald Trump wished North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "well"

amid reports of him undergoing a serious surgery.

Trump, however, did not confirm or deny news reports that the North Korean

leader was ailing and that his health was in grave danger.

"Well, these are reports that came out, and we don't know. I've had a very

good relationship with him. I wish him well because if he is in the kind of

condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, that's a very

serious condition, as you know, Trump told reporters during his daily White

House news conference on Coronavirus .

I've said it and I've said it many times, if somebody else were in this

position, we would've been right now at war with North Korea and we're not

at war and we're nowhere close to war with North Korea," Trump said.

THE REST

========

SHIVRAJ CHOUHAN BRINGS IN 5 MINISTERS

Nearly a month after the BJP formed the government in Madhya Pradesh, Chief

Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday included two loyalists of

Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose rebellion brought down the 15-month-old Kamal

Nath government, into his five-member truncated Cabinet.

Since he took oath on March 23, Chouhan was the only minister in the state

and had drawn criticism for not expanding his Cabinet even as the number of

COVID-19 cases and the death toll in Madhya Pradesh continued to climb.

The Cabinet expansion, it is learnt, was delayed because the BJP was finding

it difficult to strike a balance between its senior leaders and Scindia

loyalists. And this is learnt to have forced the ruling party to name a

truncated Cabinet. A full Cabinet is likely to be in place after the

lockdown ends.

Former CM Kamal Nath called it a joke on the 7.5 crore people of MP. "Only

five ministers in an expansion that took place after one month. No

allocation of portfolios,'' he said.

SC REFUSES TO ORDER GOVT TO PAY WAGES TO MIGRANT WORKERS

Maintaining that everyone was trying to do their best during the COVID-19

crisis, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to order the government to pay

wages to lakhs of stranded migrant workers in various parts of the country.

"Who knows the task better than the government? We may say this...we may say

that... but what if government is not able to provide that. It's an unusual

situation. Someone may say something is working well or something may not be

working well. Everybody is trying to do their best," a Bench headed by

Justice NV Ramana said.

Petitioners Harsh Mander and Anjali Bhardwaj had sought a direction to the

Centre and states to ensure payments of minimum wages to all the migrant

workers within a week.

The Supreme Court also refused to direct the government to evacuate Indian

citizens stranded abroad, saying it's a global problem. "The court will not

tell government to do anything in a particular manner. It's a worldwide

problem. Each country is doing their best. These are not matters for court

intervention. The government will lay down roadmap," a Bench headed by

Justice NV Ramana said.

IN LIGHT OF REMARKS AGAINST MUSLIMS, HARSH SPOTLIGHT ON INDIANS IN ARAB

WORLD

BJP's Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya may have deleted his disrespectful tweet

against Muslim women after vociferous objections from the Arab World but

debate is on over ramifications of the allegations of growing "Islamophobia"

in India and Indians abroad.

While observers fear "backlash/retaliation, monetary and otherwise both"

over the "Islamophobic" social media posts by Indians in Gulf, some within

the BJP are sensing a "conspiracy" given that a "five-year-old tweet was

pulled out to corner the party and the government led by it".

The fact is not just Surya, similar remarks by some right-wing supporters by

expats in Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait,

blaming Muslims for the spread of novel coronavirus and dubbing the spread

as 'Corona Jihad' on social media triggered an outrage from prominent Arab

nationals who took to social media to condemn and question their remarks.

Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the UAE royal family, said "the ruling

family is friends with Indians but as a royal your rudeness is not welcome.

You make your bread and butter from this land which you scorn and your

ridicule will not go unnoticed".

Reports suggest that the list of expats landing in trouble for alleged

"Islamophobic" posts is growing. Apart from Princess Hend Al Qassimi, the

posts were also criticised by prominent Gulf citizens and Indians reminded

that "every year more than $55 billion are transferred to India from Gulf

countries and more than 120 billion annually from all Muslim countries".

FACEBOOK TO BUY 9.9% IN JIO FOR $5.7 BN IN LARGEST TECH FDI FOR MINORITY

STAKE

US tech giant Facebook announced that it would invest $5.7 billion in RIL's

wholly-owned subsidiary Jio Platforms to expand its presence in India.

Facebook's investment translates into 9.9 per cent stake in Jio. This would

be Facebook's biggest minority shareholding ever. This is also the largest

foreign direct investment for minority investment in India.

Reliance Jio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has been the

fastest-growing telecom network in the country since its launch in 2016. Jio

has more than 388 million customers in India.

JAAVED JAAFERI TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AFTER FAKE SCREENSHOT OF HIS

'ANTI-HINDU' TWEET GOES VIRAL

Actor Jaaved Jaaferi says he will file a defamation suit against a social

media user for circulating an alleged fake tweet under his name.

A screenshot in the name of Jaaferi was doing the rounds on social media

claiming the actor made anti-Hindu comments.

In a video on Twitter, the actor said he will not take the matter lightly

and wondered how "hate spreads so quickly in this country."

"First of all, that screenshot is fake. Neither have I tweeted anything like

that nor is that my Twitter display picture. Had I tweeted that, at least

someone would have replied to it. The one who took the screenshot would have

also abused it," he said.

The actor mentioned the Twitter handle of a person who apparently shared the

screenshot first and that of another who tweeted a video, asking the actor

to reply if "you dare."

"I have both, courage and the answer. Just like your agenda, this screenshot

is also fake. People should have at least verified. Now, either you prove

the authenticity of the screenshot or make a video and apologise. We have

learnt that this fake picture was first started on Facebook," he said

mentioning the name of the person.

Jaaferi said it's "shameful" that at a time when people across the world are

rising above "caste, creed, religion and race in the name of humanity," some

are still spreading "lies and hate."

SHOPS FOR SCHOOL BOOKS, ELECTRIC FANS, RECHARGE OF PRE-PAID MOBILE PHONES

ALLOWED DURING LOCKDOWN

The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday allowed opening of shops selling school

books and electric fans, services of bedside attendants of senior citizens

and public utilities, including recharge facilities for prepaid mobile

phones during the ongoing lockdown.

The Home Ministry also said bread factories and flour mills located in urban

areas can restart operations during the ongoing lockdown.

In separate orders, the Home Ministry said the decision has been taken after

receiving some queries with regard to exemptions of specific services and

activities allowed through the guidelines issued so far.

Food processing units such as bread factories, milk processing plants, flour

mills, dal mills etc., located in urban areas will be allowed to function

during the lockdown.

However, the ministry made it clear that social distancing for offices,

workshops, factories and establishments must be ensured.

CENTRE ASKS STATES TO ENSURE NO PRAYER GATHERING HELD DURING RAMZAN

The Centre has sent an advisory to all state governments and Union

Territories (UTs) administration asking them to remain alert and make sure

that no prayer gathering takes place in Mosques during the holy month of

Ramzan beginning tomorrow.

Noting that the advisory has been sent in view of the ongoing lockdown due

to the coronavirus outbreak, officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

said, the states and the UTs have been advised to take help from community

leaders in impressing their followers to remain indoors.

According to the revised consolidated guidelines issued by the Home Ministry

on April 15, all religious places and places of worship shall be closed for

public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited during the lockdown,

which will continue till May 3.

BANKS UNABLE TO SEND RENEWED DEBIT, CREDIT CARDS TO CUSTOMERS

The ongoing lockdown is posing a new challenge for banking customers, whose

debit and credit cards have crossed their expiry date this month or are set

to expire over the next couple of months. With the lockdown in place and

courier service not being allowed to function by local authorities despite

the Centre mandating a restart post April 20, bankers say they are unable to

replace the expired cards.

As per a senior official of a leading payment network companies, on an

average around 50 lakh cards come up for renewal every month. However, it is

expected the number of cards that would have come for renewal in April may

be more than this average.

While banks can technically enhance the expiry period of the card issued by

them, bankers say it is a tedious process. "We will have to do segregation

according to customers and then process it both at our end and also get the

merchant systems updated," said an official with a bank.

Among other options are cashless withdrawal and virtual cards. Sources say

only handful of banks offer cashless withdrawal facility. Another option is

the virtual card, but bankers say while virtual cards are used for

e-transactions, there is a constraint on cash withdrawal which is the prime

necessity in current times.

INDICATORS

Sensex 30,637 (-1011), Nifty 8,981 (-280), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

46,977

Nasdaq 8,263 (-298) Dow 23,019 (-632), S&P 2,737 (-87)

US$-Rs. 76.30 GBP-Rs. 94.15, Euro-Rs. 82.74, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.76, Can$-Rs.

53.76, Aus$- Rs. 48.01

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.92 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.60 /US$, Aus$ 1.58 /US$, Sing

1.42 /US$, Bang Taka 83.25 /US$, Can$ 1.41 /US$, Mal Ring 4.38 /US$,

Pak Re 161.91 /US$, Phil Peso 50.80 /US$, Russian Rouble 76.51 /US$, NZ$

1.67 /US$, Thai Baht 32.47 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.81 /US$, Norway NOK

10.55 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 7,093

Dollar Index 100.37 Brent Crude 18.60 BDI 757

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,686 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,310 /

4,210, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 42,710

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is

always a vice. - Thomas Paine

OFF TRACK

Morris had died.

His lawyer is standing before the family and reads out Morris' Last Will and

Testament.

To my dear wife Esther, I leave the house, 150 acres of land, and 1 million

dollars.

To my son Barry, I leave my Big Lexus and the new Jaguar.

To my daughter Shirley, I leave my yacht and $250,000.

And to my brother-in-law Aaron, who always insisted that health is better

than wealth, I leave my treadmill.