NO PLAN TO EXTEND 21-DAY LOCKDOWN: GOVT

The government on Monday said that there was no immediate plan to extend the

21-day lockdown amid fears that shutdown of businesses across the country to

counter the spread of coronavirus might trigger severe economic and social

distress.

In a tweet, the government's Press Information Bureau said: "There are

rumours & media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the

#Lockdown21 when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports,

and stated that they are baseless."

INDIA LOCKDOWN DAY 6: GOVT ZEROES IN ON 10 HOTSPOTS

As the number of COVID-19 cases mounted yesterday, India is set to ramp up

testing in 10 identified "hotspots" where "unusual" transmission has been

detected. Of these, two - Dilshad Garden and Nizamuddin - are in Delhi, the

others being Noida, Meerut, Bhilwara, Ahmedabad, Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta,

Mumbai and Pune.

A source in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme said, "Normally we

define any area where there are more than 10 cases as a cluster. Places,

where there are several clusters, are treated as hotspots. A senior official

in the Health Ministry confirmed, "We are stepping up testing in the

hotspots. But testing will be done only as per testing protocol." The

government position remains that there is no community transmission so far.

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal said Monday, "We are

studying the emerging hotspots. We will follow rigorous surveillance and

containment measures in these places." He added that only a "minuscule

percentage" of asymptomatic people have tested positive in the country.

India has so far done 38,432 tests.

Nizamuddin in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot after a religious meeting

there, from March 13 to 16, was attended by people with travel history to

Indonesia and Malaysia. Some of the attendees then travelled back home to

various places within the country - each one of them and their respective

contacts are being traced. At least 6 of the attendees have died in

Hyderabad in last 24 hours.

The Dilshad Garden index patient had returned from Saudi Arabia, passed on

the virus to a doctor, who in turn saw over 1,000 patients at a mohalla

clinic before being diagnosed.

The Meerut case concerns a man who came back from Dubai and took public

transport to visit his in-laws in the city. Apart from the homes he himself

went to in the neighbourhood, his family is suspected to have exposed many

people to the virus.

In Mumbai, officials suspect several clusters have developed.

In Bhilwara, several medical staff of a popular private hospital have tested

positive, leading to more than 20 lakh people across the district being

surveyed.

COUNTER MISINFORMATION, SUPERSTITION ON CORONAVIRUS: PM MODI TO SOCIAL

WORKERS

Organisations involved in social welfare can play a big role in countering

superstitions and misinformation about coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi said on Monday.

In the name of belief, people have been seen gathering in places flouting

social distancing norms. Hence there is a need for educating them about the

importance of social distancing to check the spread of the deadly virus, he

also said.

Addressing organisations involved in social work via video conferencing

here, Modi said they can play a huge role in arranging basic necessities for

the poor and can also dedicate their medical facilities and volunteers to

serve patients and the needy. Modi observed that "these organisations have

three distinct specialities: humane approach, massive reach and connect with

people and a service mindset". "This is why they are trusted implicitly", he

said.

As India builds up stocks of ventilators, critical-care beds and personal

protective equipment, Modi asked Indian ambassadors in major countries to

publicise the newly-established charitable fund PM-CARES Fund to mobilise

donations from abroad.

The Prime Minister also asked the Indian envoys to identify innovations,

scientific breakthroughs and sources to procure medical equipment in their

countries of accreditation.

ARMY DISMISSES AS FAKE SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES ABOUT LIKELY IMPOSITION OF

EMERGENCY

The Indian Army on Monday dismissed as "fake" certain messages circulating

on social media about likely imposition of Emergency in the country next

month to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Army officials also said no effort is being initiated to rope in services of

retired personnel, the National Cadet Corps and the volunteers enrolled

under the National Service Scheme in the wake of the coronavirus crisis

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE) at 0930 IST

Total Cases 1307 (+247) / 785,777 (+56,581)

Total Deaths 44 (+17) / 37,815 (+3,839)

Total Recovered 138 (+36) / 165,607 (+13,841)

Active Cases 1165 (+154) / 582,355 (+45,776)

Serious / Critical Cases 0 / 29,488 (+1,648)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

US CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL RISES PAST 3,000 ON DEADLIEST DAY

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed past 3,000 on

Monday, the deadliest day yet in the country's mounting crisis, while New

York cheered the arrival of a gleaming 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship as

a sign of hope in the city's desperate fight.

In a grim new milestones marking the spread of the virus, total deaths

across the United States hit 3,017, including at least 540 on Monday, and

the reported cases climbed to more than 163,000.

People in New York and New Jersey lined both sides of the Hudson River to

cheer the U.S Navy ship Comfort, a converted oil tanker painted white with

giant red crosses, as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty accompanied by

support ships and helicopters.

The Comfort will treat non-coronavirus patients, including those who require

surgery and critical care, in an effort to free up other resources to fight

the virus, the Navy said.

Hospitals in the New York City area have been overrun with patients

suffering from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

In California, another hard-hit state, Governor Gavin Newsom said the number

of COVID-19 hospitalizations had nearly doubled over the past four days and

the number of ICU patients had tripled. Officials there also appealed for

medical volunteers.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Bill de Blasio, the New York Mayor, are

among a growing chorus of officials who have voiced frustration at Trump's

handling of the crisis and a shortage of ventilators and personal protective

equipment. "I am not engaging the president in politics," Cuomo, a Democrat,

said of Trump, a Republican. "My only goal is to engage the president in

partnership."

Trump has said the US will be in "a very good shape" in terms of the number

of ventilators available by the time the coronavirus outbreak peaks. The

president said at least 10 US companies were now making the medical devices,

and some might be exported. Trump said "challenging times are ahead for the

next 30 days", but that social distancing could save more than a million

American lives. "We will have a great victory," he added.

UK, meanwhile, reported 180 deaths in the past 24 hours even as London

remained under a complete lockdown for the 9th day. The total cases in UK

now stand at over 22,000, with over 1400 deaths.

Meanwhile, Britain's Prince Charles came out of self-isolation on Monday,

seven days after it was confirmed that he had tested positive for

coronavirus, a royal spokesperson said.

BRENT TUMBLES TO LOWEST SINCE 2002, US CRUDE DIPS BELOW $20 PER BARREL

Global oil benchmark Brent crude plunged to its cheapest in almost 18 years

on Monday and US crude briefly tumbled below $20 per barrel on growing fears

the global coronavirus shutdown could last months and demand for fuel will

decline further.

With Saudi Arabia and Russia set to flood the market with oil next month,

producers and shippers have been scrambling to lock oil up in storage as

demand falls.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is expected to cause at least a 20% drop

in fuel demand worldwide as governments take steps to restrict the spread of

the virus.

Supertanker freight rates are rising for a second time this month as traders

rush to secure ships for storage.

THE REST

========

MIGRANTS' LONG WALK HOME AND THE CENTRE, STATES TUSSLE

Tired of walking miles after the lockdown was announced on March 24,

hundreds of migrants had gathered at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on

Friday in the hope of getting back home by bus once the word had spread that

the administration was arranging transport for them. Officials in the Prime

Minister's Office were still undecided on whether to give a green signal to

a proposal to screen and transport workers to their domicile states while

visuals of the migrants' long walk made international news.

Frustrated migrants however were already on the road to Uttar Pradesh,

hoping to cross the border on foot, leaving the remaining home-bound journey

to luck.

By Saturday noon, when UP CM Yogi Adityanath's office said on Twitter that

1,000 buses had been arranged "to help migrant workers reach their

destination without any hassle'', buses had started arriving in various

parts of UP, the word spread like wildfire in Delhi.

Within half an hour of the UP government's official announcement, Delhi

deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that about 100 buses of the Delhi

government were carrying people who were trying to leave Delhi. At the same

time, Sisodia appealed to the migrants to follow the lockdown. The Central

government, which had imposed a lockdown, remained silent.

On the roads of the national capital, a sense of understanding was visible

between the authorities as the Delhi Police helped migrants board the buses.

Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla held a

video conference on Sunday morning with the top bureaucrats and police

officers of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi. "In the

meeting, they expressed their alarm and unhappiness at the large-scale

movement of migrant labour on the roads by foot followed by the accumulation

of a large number of people especially at the Anand Vihar Bus Terminal. In

order to disperse the crowds from this area, buses had to be provided in

large numbers on March 27 and 28 evening," a communication sent by Haryana

Director General of Police Manoj Yadav to officers within the state on

Sunday stated.

The central government decided to immediately seal the borders and stop

movement of people. It also ordered the state governments to offer relief

measures for the migrants, instructing them to pick up workers travelling on

foot on highways.

By Sunday night, the Central government had suspended two senior Delhi

government officials - one in the transport department and another in

finance, while issuing a showcause notice to a state official in the home

and buildings departments and the sub-divisional magistrate of Seelampur

(in-charge of Anand Vihar bus terminal area), indirectly putting all the

blame on the Delhi government.

MIGRANTS SPRAYED WITH DISINFECTANTS AFTER ARRIVAL AT BAREILLY BUS STAND

Bareilly (U.P.) District Magistrate Nitish Kumar today promised action

against those responsible for spraying migrant workers returning from Delhi

and Gautam Buddha Nagar with diluted sodium hypochlorite, a component used

in bleaching powder, on the pretext of sanitising them.

The DM's reaction came after a video went viral showing a team of Bareilly

health workers on Sunday making migrants, including women and children, sit

on the street near the satellite bus station while the chemical was sprayed

on them. Congress general secretary Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: "Please

do not display such inhuman behaviour." Similarly, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

questioned the act.

The Centre said the DM had taken local officials to task. "They were clearly

being overzealous either out of fear or ignorance," a Health Ministry

spokesman said.

As the Adityanath government invited flak over the incident , the party's IT

cell in charge Amit Malviya posted a counter video of similar scenes playing

out in Left-governed Kerala. "This is Kerala, where agencies are mass

'spraying' people crossing borders. But all the outrage is reserved for UP,

because a saffron clad monk of the BJP is the Chief Minister and is doing a

good job!," Malviya claimed, posting a video where the police , presumably

of Kerala, can be seen spraying people with what Malviya claimed was a

disinfectant.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday attacked PM Narendra Modi for not

giving enough time to the people to prepare before a nationwide lockdown was

imposed.

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said in Hindi "Na hee tab taiyari thee na hee ab

taiyari hai, tab bhi janata haari thi, ab bhi janata haari hai", which

translates as "Neither there was a preparation then (referring to

demonetisation), nor now. That time also the common man was at the receiving

end, so is today."

FEAR AND PANIC BECOMING BIGGER PROBLEM THAN CORONAVIRUS, OBSERVES SC

As thousands of migrant workers walking back to their native places after

being rendered jobless due to the coronavirus lockdown, the Supreme Court on

Monday observed that the panic and fear is becoming a "bigger problem than

coronavirus", and sought a status report from the Centre by Tuesday on the

measures taken to prevent the exodus.

The court said it would not create more confusion by issuing directions on

measures which the government is already taking.

Hearing two separate petitions through video-conferencing, Chief Justice

Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao said before passing any direction, it

would like to wait for the status report from the Centre.

The PILs, filed by advocates Alakh Alok Srivastava and Rashmi Bansal, sought

relief, including food, water, medicines and proper medical facilities, for

thousands of migrant workers who are leaving for their native places after

being rendered homeless and jobless due to the 21-day coronavirus lockdown.

STARTING WITH 5000 COACHES, RAILWAYS PLANS TO SET ASIDE 20,000 COACHES FOR

COVID PATIENTS

The Railway Board has told its zones that they might be required to convert

up to 20,000 coaches into isolation wards as part of their preparedness to

fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

In a letter to all the zonal general managers on Monday, the board said that

initially 5,000 coaches will be converted.

It also said that the Railways have held consultations with the Armed Forces

Medical Services, medical departments of various zonal railways, and

Ayushman Bharat before taking the decision.

The letter also detailed the specifications of such isolation wards.

RS 1,200 INDIGENOUS COVID TEST KIT READY

India's first indigenous Covid-19 testing kit is all set to enter the

market. The kit (Mylab Patho Detect Covid-19) received ICMR validation and

commercial approval last week.

Produced by Indian firm Mylab, the kit costs only Rs 1,200. The first lot of

test kits for private laboratories has been sent to the market. The second

lot will soon be dispatched. According to ICMR experts, the test time for

this kit is 2.5 hours.

So far, 38,442 Covid tests have been conducted in India with 3,501 conducted

on Sunday alone.

Private laboratories have tested 1,334 samples over the past three days.

None of these tested positive for Covid-19.

A WORD ABOUT MORATORIUM OPTION ON EMIs

While the RBI on Friday permitted banks to allow moratorium of three months

on payment of instalments in respect of all loans including home, car and

personal loan among others, leading banks and housing finance companies

(HFCs) are set to extend the moratorium option to all their customers and

the communication to customers will be sent through mails and messages

beginning Tuesday.

"The back-end is being worked upon and we should be able to send out mails

and messages to all customers beginning tomorrow. We are trying to work out

customised solution in the manner that each customer will reach a link where

once he enters the loan account number, he will also get details like if he

opts for the moratorium then by how many months the loan tenure will

increase and how much shall he increase the EMI (post the moratorium period)

to keep the tenure same," said a senior official with a bank.

Once the communication is received by customers, they can opt for the

moratorium which will allow them to not pay the EMI instalment for three

months. The customer will also have the option to continue with the EMIs."

It is, however, important to note that the moratorium period will not come

free, and since the RBI has said that interest will continue to accrue on

the outstanding portion of the loan during the moratorium period, it may

increase the customers' burden significantly in terms of the a notable

increase in tenure of the loan or increase in EMIs.

RAJIV BAJAJ AIRS HIS CONTRARIAN VIEW

Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj yesterday aired his views on the

lockdown:

"The best-case scenario is eight weeks of disruption. Nobody knows what the

worst is. When 99.9 per cent of the most vulnerable are above 65, I see no

logic in this sweeping lockdown in a country in which 94 per cent are below

65. We should have kept the seniors home, closed public spaces, and allowed

the rest of us to keep life moving forward."

MARKETS EXTEND LOSSES

The BSE Sensex crashed over 1,375 points on Monday, pressured by heavy

selling in banking, finance and auto counters, as sentiment remained grim

amid a steady rise in coronavirus cases.

Investors dumped risky assets after multiple ratings agencies cut India's

growth outlook, traders said. After plunging over 1,500 points during the

day, the 30-share BSE barometer ended 1,375.27 points or 4.61% lower at

28,440.32. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 379.15 points, or 4.38%, to close

at 8,281.10.

Fitch Solutions slashed its estimate for India's GDP growth in the fiscal

starting April 1 to 4.6% due to weaker private consumption and contraction

in investment amid the coronavirus outbreak, costing economies around the

globe.

INDICATORS

Sensex 28,440 (-1375), Nifty 8,281 (-379), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

36,076

Nasdaq 7,774 (+272) Dow 22,327 (+691), S&P 2,627 (+85)

US$-Rs. 75.10 GBP-Rs. 93.07, Euro-Rs. 83.04, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.44, Can$-Rs.

53.20, Aus$- Rs. 46.18

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.80 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.81 /US$, Aus$ 1.62 /US$, Sing

1.42 /US$, Bang Taka 82.79 /US$, Can$ 1.41 /US$, Mal Ring 4.33 /US$,

Pak Re 164.46 /US$, Phil Peso 50.94 /US$, Russian Rouble 79.52 /US$, NZ$

1.66 /US$, Thai Baht 32.60 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.65 /US$, Norway NOK

10.55 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 6,275

Dollar Index 99.40 Brent Crude 23.50 BDI 556

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,614 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,175 /

4,075, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 40,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated. - George Bernard Shaw

OFF TRACK

A Man buys a pack of cigarettes.

The Warning reads: *Smoking Causes Impotency*

He Goes back to store and says: " Arre yeh kaun sa pack de diya bhai, wo

cancer wala do."