CENTRE ISSUES ADVISORY EASING CURBS ON SELECT SHOPS

On the day it red-flagged Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad and Chennai among

"major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots" and decided to send four new

teams to monitor these cities, the Centre issued an advisory late Friday

night relaxing curbs to allow functioning of select shops within and outside

municipal limits. This will not, however, apply to Covid containment zones

and hotspots.

In a fresh addendum to its April 15 lockdown guidelines, the Ministry of

Home Affairs issued orders to exempt all shops in residential areas and

market complexes in rural areas from the lockdown. Outside the municipal

limits, which could be roughly translated as rural areas, all shops -

barring liquor stores - can now open. Malls and large shopping complexes

will remain shut in both urban and rural areas.

However, no more than "50% strength of workers" is allowed and "wearing of

masks and social distancing" is mandatory.

The order is likely to make non-essential items available to the public.

The MHA brought in two crucial modifications and inclusions which will act

as enabling provisions to allow states open up their economy further. Under

the Disaster Management Act, states are, however, free to reject these

relaxations in certain areas if they feel it is detrimental to their Covid

containment efforts.

Meanwhile, MHA said in a statement: "The situation is especially serious in

major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat

(Gujarat); Thane (Maharashtra); Hyderabad (Telangana); and Chennai (Tamil

Nadu). These teams would use expertise of the Centre and augment state

efforts to fight and contain spread of COVID-19 effectively."

The government had earlier deputed IMCTs to hotspots in West Bengal,

Maharashtra, Rajasthan and MP. In Bengal, the move sparked a political

firestorm with Central teams accusing the state of non-cooperation and the

Trinamool government accusing the Centre of fighting with states.

Between April 1 and 22, the figures show that infections in Hyderabad and

Chennai grew 10 and eight times, respectively. At the same time, it grew 40

times in Ahmedabad and Surat. Thane's growth was relatively moderate at 23

times during this period.

And, in a video conference with state health ministers and officials, Union

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that stage three (community)

transmission, when the source of infection is not easily traceable, has been

avoided so far.

Dr Paul, who heads the empowered group on a medical emergency management

plan, said that "had there been no lockdown, a reasonable estimate is that

we would have now been at around a lakh cases.we would have been on the

doubling time of three days". He said that "the good effects will keep

showing till the first or second week of May. If we look at the three-day

average, the doubling time is 10 days".

Incidentally, the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said that India

could have had up to 8.2 lakh cases by April 15 without the nationwide

lockdown.

PM'S SELF-RELIANCE MESSAGE: DON'T LOOK OUTSIDE COUNTRY

Apart from reiterating the need for social distancing and compliance to

lockdown rules, a common thread in many of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's

recent addresses has been the need for the country to be self-reliant.

On Friday, interacting with gram pradhans from across the country to mark

National Panchayati Raj Day, Modi again underlined the need for the country

to self-reliant. "The pandemic has thrown us new challenges and problems

which we have never imagined, but it also taught us a very good lesson with

a strong message. It has taught us that we have to be self-reliant and

self-sufficient. It has taught us that we should not look for solutions

outside the country. This is biggest lesson we have learnt."

The Prime Minister's call for self-reliance comes at a time when the

pandemic has upended the world economy, with trade and manufacturing output

facing an unprecedented decline.

Addressing the gram pradhans through video conference, the PM said, "Every

village has to self-sufficient enough to provide for its basic needs.

Similarly, every district has to be self-sufficient at its level, every

state has to be self-reliant at its level and the whole country has to be

self-reliant at its level."

This emphasis on self-reliance - a throwback to the traditional Sangh

'Swadeshi' line, which has often seen the party at variance with its

ideological parent - has found an echo in almost all the addresses the Prime

Minister has made since the country went into a lockdown in the wake of

COVID-19.

INSENSITIVE TO SUSPEND DEARNESS ALLOWANCE INCREMENT, SAYS CONGRESS

The Congress Friday slammed as insensitive and inhumane the Centre's

decision to put on hold increment in dearness allowance for central

government employees and pensioners till July 2021, arguing that it should

have instead shelved the bullet train and central vista redevelopment

projects to save money for the coronavirus fight.

"Government employees manage to make both ends relying completely on their

salaries. Why are you attacking the income of the most vulnerable sections

and putting that money in projects like the bullet train project of Rs. 1.1

lakh crore and in the Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista project. This proves

misconceived priorities of this Government," Congress communication

department head Randeep Surjewala said.

Surjewala said it was even more tragic that the government had not even

spared the armed forces. "Modiji has deducted Rs 11 thousand crore of the 15

lakh serving armed forces personnel and nearly 26 lakh military pensioners.

What is their fault? Instead of curbing the wasteful expenditure, the

Government has been constantly hitting at the income of government employees

and the middle class people," he said.

"On one side the Prime Minister is telling the state governments as also the

private sector not to cut wages and salaries and on the other side you are

yourself cutting the dearness allowance and the dearness pay to the tune of

Rs 38 thousand crore of 113 lakh central government employees and the

pensioners. Is it not an indicator for the entire private sector to follow

suit and cut wages and allowances of their employees? Is it also not an

indicator to all state governments to cut dearness pay and dearness

allowances and salaries of their own employees?," he asked.

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

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 24,447 (+1,408) / 28,30,082 (+1,11,383)

Total Deaths 7780 (+59) / 1,97,246 (+6,592)

Total Recovered 5,496 (+484) / 7,98,776 (+53,153)

Active Cases 18,171 (+865) / 18,34,060 (+51,638)

Serious / Critical Cases (Not Available) / 58,523 (-155)

Top impacted nations so far: (And some of India's Neighbours)

Country, / Total Cases / Deaths / Total Deaths per 1M Pop./

USA 9,25,038 / 52,185 / 158

Spain 2,19,764 / 22,524 / 482

Italy 1,92,994 / 25,969 /

430

France 1,59,828 / 22,245 / 341

Germany 154,999 / 5,760 / 69

UK 1,43,464 / 19,506 / 287

Turkey 1,04,912 / 2,600 / 31

Iran 88,194 / 5,574 /

66

India 24,447 / 780 /

0.6

Pakistan 11,940 / 253 / 1.0

Bangladesh 4,689 / 131 / 0.8

Sri Lanka 420 / 7 /

0.3

Top 17 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

Maharashtra 6,817 / 301

Gujarat 2,815 / 127

Delhi 2,514 / 53

Rajasthan 2,034 / 32

Madhya Pradesh 1,846 / 92

Tamil Nadu 1,755 / 22

Uttar Pradesh 1,621 / 25

Telangana 983 / 25

Andhra Pradesh 955 / 29

West Bengal 57571 / 18

Karnataka 474 / 18

Jammu and Kashmir 454 / 5

Kerala 450 / 3

Punjab 298 / 17

Haryana 275 / 3

Bihar 223 / 2

Odisha 94 / 1

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

US TRYING TO GET 'ACTUAL VIRUS' SAMPLE FROM CHINA

The US is still trying to get an "actual sample" of Covid-19 from China as

several questions related to the infection remain unanswered, Secretary of

State Mike Pompeo has said. "Frankly, we are still trying to get an actual

sample of the virus (from China). They have given us the breakdown of it,"

Pompeo said during a TV show on Thursday.

Pompeo said there still were many questions about the coronavirus that

remained unanswered. "There are still many unanswered questions about how

this came to be. this issue of transparency is important not only as a

historical matter to understand what happened back in November, December and

January, but it's important even today," he said.

WAS JUST BEING SARCASTIC: TRUMP ON HIS IDEA TO INJECT COVID-19 PATIENTS WITH

DISINFECTANTS

U.S. President Donald Trump's musings on whether injecting disinfectants

might treat COVID-19 have horrified medical professionals and raised fresh

concerns that his stream-of-consciousness briefings could push frightened

people to poison themselves with untested treatments.

An international chorus of doctors and health experts urged people not to

drink or inject disinfectant on Friday after Trump a day earlier suggested

that scientists should investigate inserting the cleaning agent into the

body as a way to cure COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new

coronavirus.

Initially, the White House said that Trump's comments were being taken out

of context. Later, Trump backtracked further, said he was just being

sarcastic.

THE REST

========

SOME STATES PLAN RETURN OF MIGRANTS STUCK IN OTHER STATES

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh announced Friday they were drawing plans to

bring home their migrant workers stranded in other states while Chhattisgarh

said it had sought permission to conduct a similar exercise.

In Lucknow, days after he sent buses to the Delhi border to bring back

migrant workers, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called a meeting and

directed officials to draw up a plan for the return of UP's migrant workers

in a phased manner from other states after they complete 14 days of

quarantine. In a video-conference later with District Magistrates, he said

5-10 lakh migrant workers are expected to return over the next two months.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too said workers from

the state, stuck in different parts of the country, will be brought home. He

said he had spoken to counterparts in UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra

and they had assured support.

In Raipur, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told reporters: "We

have also requested permission to bring back our migrant workers stranded

across the country. Once the permission is granted, we will bring them

back."

KOTA: STUDENTS FROM HARYANA, ASSAM LEAVE FOR HOME; THOSE FROM BIHAR STAGE

STIR

Nearly 1,400 students from Haryana and Assam left Kota for their home towns

by buses on Friday morning, while over 2,000 from various places in

Rajasthan were scheduled to leave.

Meanwhile, students from Bihar, almost 12000 of them, have appealed to

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of their home state, to make arrangements

for their return and staged a silent protest there.

Over 50 students from the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and

Diu had left for home in three buses on Thursday noon and more than 250

students from Rajasthan had left for their respective home districts till

Thursday night.

INITIAL RESULTS OF PLASMA THERAPY TRIAL ENCOURAGING: KEJRIWAL

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said initial results of

plasma therapy trial conducted on four COVID-19 patients are encouraging and

give hope to save people's lives from the dreaded disease.

Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said the government would

conduct more clinical trials of plasma therapy in the next two-three days.

Under the plasma therapy technique, transfusion of plasma from recovered

patients to severally-ill COVID-19 patients is conducted.

Thereafter, the government will seek the Centre's nod to use the therapy on

all serious COVID-19 patients across the city, he added.

The chief minister appealed to all people who have recovered from the

disease to come forward and donate plasma for serious COVID-19 patients to

save their lives.

NO ACTION AGAINST ARNAB FOR 3 WEEKS: SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed all coercive action against Republic TV

Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for three weeks in connection with the

multiple FIRs against him for his alleged remarks against Congress president

Sonia Gandhi. The remarks were allegedly made during news shows on the

Palghar lynching incident.

Multiple FIRs have been filed against Arnab Goswami for his alleged remarks

against Cong chief Sonia Gandhi.

The Bench also directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner to give protection to

Arnab depending upon the threat perception. The Bench also turned down a

request from the Chhattisgarh Government to restrain Arnab from making

comments similar to the ones that led to the registration of the FIRs.

The top court gave time to Arnab to club all FIRs and complaints, bring all

of them on record and make the complainants parties to his petition. Asking

Arnab to co-operate with the investigation into the matter, the Bench posted

it for further hearing after eight weeks.

But the urgent hearing in the matter created a controversy with a lawyer

alleging that his petition was given a preferential listing by the court's

Registry.

OVERALL DEATH RATES IN INDIA SEEM LOWER DURING LOCKDOWN

Parts of India have recorded dramatic falls in mortality rates after a

nationwide lockdown was imposed to fight the new coronavirus, suggesting

there has not been an undetected surge in virus-related deaths.

While death rates in some countries have risen sharply in recent weeks, in

India the opposite seems to be happening, at least in some places, leaving

hospitals, funeral parlours and cremation sites wondering what is going on.

"It's very surprising for us," said Shruthi Reddy, chief executive officer

of Anthyesti Funeral Services, which operates in the eastern city of Kolkata

and the southern tech hub of Bengaluru.

The company handled about five jobs a day in January but has only had about

three a day this month. "We've declared employee pay cuts if revenue falls

below a threshold," Reddy said.

Central Mumbai, home to some 12 million people, saw deaths fall by about 21

per cent in March compared with the same month of 2019, according to

municipal data.

Overall deaths plummeted 67 per cent in Ahmedabad, over the same period.

"If we're not seeing an increase in deaths, the suspicion that there may be

more COVID-19 fatalities out there is not true," said Giridhar Babu,

professor of epidemiology at the Public Health Foundation of India.

Indian doctors, officials and crematorium employees suspect the lower death

rate is in large part attributable to fewer road and rail accidents.

"Road accident cases, and even patients with alcohol or drug abuse, stroke

and heart attacks have been coming in fewer numbers," said Dr Himanta Biswa

Sarma, health minister for the northeastern state of Assam.

Accidents on India's chaotic roads killed more than 151,400 people in 2018,

according to official data, the world's highest absolute number.

In Mumbai alone, more than half a dozen people typically die every day on

the local rail network.

PROBE INTO DELHI RIOTS: STUDENT ACTIVISTS, PFI UNDER POLICE SCRUTINY

The Delhi Police, which recently invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities

(Prevention) Act against four people - including two Jamia students and

former JNU student Umar Khalid - in connection with the February Northeast

Delhi riots, are exploring action against several members of the Popular

Front of India (PFI), the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), Pinjra Tod,

All India Students' Association (AISA) as well as former and current

students of Delhi University and JNU under the same Act. A professor is also

on the police radar.

Earlier this week, UAPA was invoked against Khalid, Jamia student and RJD's

youth wing president Meeran Haider, JCC media coordinator Safoora Zargar,

and Danish, a resident of Northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura.

Police sources also said they are tracking the money trail between bank

accounts of members of these outfits, and believe some of them received

money from PFI as well as abroad. They also claimed speeches these people

gave at various fora had a role to play in "inciting" the riots.

MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTORS PANIC-SELL AMID FRANKLIN TEMPLETON CRISIS

The mutual fund industry Friday witnessed a turmoil after anxious investors

resorted to panic selling in debt schemes following Franklin Templeton

Mutual Fund's abrupt decision on Thursday to wind up six schemes with

aggregate assets under management of over Rs 28,000 crore. Industry leaders

and CEOs of five leading mutual funds later came together to allay investor

fears and assure them of the credit quality of the portfolio held by the MF

industry.

Reports suggest RBI is likely to intervene by opening a special window to

provide support to mutual funds - which are facing tremendous redemption

pressure - through banks. The RBI had opened a similar facility in 2008 in

the wake of the global financial crisis.

Worried investors who fear heavy losses in Templeton's six schemes also

demanded action against Franklin Templeton for destroying investor

confidence in debt schemes of MFs. "Sebi must take action against Franklin

Templeton. They messed around with Rs 28,000 crore of investor money. The

fund house is now blaming Covid and lockdown for the closure. Sebi should

ask why they put money in papers of shady companies," said veteran stock

broker and mutual fund tracker Pawan Dharnidharka.

Industry insiders say that with investors getting wary over their

investments in debt MFs, the CEOs of leading fund houses came to address the

concerns and assure that the debt schemes have strong portfolio of assets

with high credit quality and liquidity profile. They said Franklin Templeton

was an isolated case.

INDICATORS

Sensex 31,327 (-536), Nifty 9,154 (-159), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

53,008

Nasdaq 8,635 (+140) Dow 23,775 (+260), S&P 2,837 (+39)

US$-Rs. 75.58 GBP-Rs. 93.30, Euro-Rs. 81.51, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.57, Can$-Rs.

53.65, Aus$- Rs. 48.14

GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.92 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.56 /US$, Aus$ 1.56 /US$, Sing

1.42 /US$, Bang Taka 83.28 /US$, Can$ 1.40 /US$, Mal Ring 4.35 /US$,

Pak Re 159.82 /US$, Phil Peso 50.74 /US$, Russian Rouble 74.61 /US$, NZ$

1.66 /US$, Thai Baht 32.39 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.84 /US$, Norway NOK

10.63 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 7,093

Dollar Index 100.26 Brent Crude 21.44 BDI 665

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,729 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,550 /

4,450, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 42,430

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. - William James

OFF TRACK

This newcomer to Mumbai arrives on a rainy day. She gets up the next morning

and it's raining. It continues to pour for the rest of the week.

Leaning out her apartment window she sees a little boy playing on the stood

below and asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?"

The kid looks up at her and calls back, "How should I know? I'm only six."