Bandipora: Fake currency racket busted by J&K Police, 4 arrested

COVID-19 in Mumbai: BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal takes stock of Dharavi slum area

Nearly 82 per cent of the total remittances received by the country originated from eight countries - the UAE, US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, UK, and Malaysia.

India is followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and Philippines ($34 billion each), according to World Bank.

India was followed by China (USD 67 billion), Mexico (USD 36 billion), the Philippines (USD 34 billion), and Egypt (USD 29 billion).

The payments bank sees average monthly remittances of close to Rs 5,000 crore from daily wage earners working in various factories, construction sites, small businesses, plumbers, carpenters, cab drivers, among others.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday inaugurated the road link from Dharchula, a town in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, to the Lipulekh pass, which is located at an altitude of 17,060 feet at the border between India and China.

“The minister cleared the proposal by the engineer-in-chief of MES, in line with the Shekatkar Committee recommendation to restructure the civilian workforce in a manner that the work can be partly done by departmentally employed staff while the rest is outsourced,” said an official.

They said while the government is strictly enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown, the additional restrictions were imposed on Friday to ensure that the day passes off peacefully.

"The apprehended extremists include the recruitment module operational head Lankeshwar Koch alias Lambu, a Myanmar-trained self-styled area commander of Lower Assam. Four Bangladesh-trained militants and two newly recruited cadres were arrested," the spokesman said.

Immediately on receipt of information, on May 7 , Indian Army rescue columns with personnel of ITBPs too, moved on foot, traversing dangerous terrain in bad weather, to the helicopter landing site to evacuate the individuals and provide medical aid, for which a doctor of the ITBP also accompanied.

Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said the government "has learnt with regret" about the inauguration of the link road connecting to Lipulekh pass, which Nepal claims to be part of its territory. The 80-Km new road inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in China.

These companies have undertaken massive exercises to retrain agents to approach and convince customers to buy new policies and renew premiums entirely through digital channels such as WhatsApp or Zoom, while also rejigging sales strategies starting right from the drafts used by agents to approach prospective customers, said people aware of the developments.

Industry leaders said April-June quarter would be a washout even for the high and mighty.

Charge filings, which indicate new loans or additional collateral towards past loans, fell 57.4% to 277 in March and April combined from 650 in January and February, according to data compiled by Propstack, a financial data intelligence provider.

The guidelines mandate companies to strictly observe the social distancing protocol, including restricting the number of people in a lift, providing health insurance to workers and random testing for Covid-19.

It took for the company’s HR department to visit the villages and show them the letters of approval received from the ministry of textile, local administration and to explain to the residents how this will help the country’s effort to fight the pandemic. HR departments face the additional task of convincing not just employees but their neighbours too of the hygienic conditions.

Industry captains say economy and jobs must be central focus now, and policymakers have to recognise that the country will have to live with and work around Covid-19. India Inc’s growing call on reopening India for business comes amidst a blizzard of grim economic forecasts. Economic growth in FY21 can be negative, according to Nomura, ICRA and others.

CLSA maintained its 'buy' rating on the stock, with a target price of Rs 1,770.

But the economy can’t rev up too quickly, not as long as the virus is still loose.

Knowing and following the fundamentals takes much of the risk out of investing.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti will resume operations at its Manesar plant from May 12.

​The app that complements the Aarogya Setu App has been made mandatory for all employees across the value chain, requiring them to update their health status, including close family members, on the app everyday. It has been developed to ensure safety and monitor employees' health on a real time basis.

Car and bike-makers are gearing up to sell more in Bharat to counterbalance shortfall in demand in the cities.

Component makers are also working overtime to restart factories, but delays in getting approvals are causing hindrance in some states, especially in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu that have the biggest automotive manufacturing hubs, industry insiders said. This, they said, could weigh on the plans of the automakers.

“We have got clearance to open the office from the local authorities and are following the guidelines given by the government,” said a spokesperson for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country’s biggest car maker. The company’s Delhi corporate office is at Nelson Mandela Marg.

“I have been trying for the last two years to pursue the scrappage policy. I have asked the Secretary (ministry of road transport and highways) to expedite the scrappage policy. Because this will help reduce production cost,” Gadkari said in an interaction with SIAM Institute on Thursday.

About 20% of the auto retail network, or 3,500 outlets, opened for business this week, with one-third staff to comply with social-distancing norms. As of Wednesday evening, some 50,000-60,000 employees were back at work, industry insiders said.

Maruti Suzuki restarted operations at 680 dealerships till Wednesday, covering almost 35% of the addressable market. The nation’s largest carmaker is seeking permission from local authorities to reopen all but 500 of its remaining over 2,400 outlets. The 500 showrooms are in Covid-19 containment zones.

The tyre maker has commenced production in a graded manner at its manufacturing facilities in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Kankroli (Rajasthan) and Laksar (through Cavendish industries Ltd - subsidiary company, in Uttarakhand). The company has also resumed operations at its global research and development hub located in Mysore, Karnataka, JK Tyre said.

The auto major has commenced production at its Sriperumbudur factory in Tamil Nadu adhering to 100 per cent compliance of safety and social distancing norms, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement.

The timing of the peak will depend on how India is able to control physical distancing and on the level of infection spreads after restrictions are relaxed, they said.

While over 20 technical and scientific institutions are working on developing a vaccine for coronavirus, IITs have already set up "COVID-19 specific research centres", encouraging developments in the innovation ecosystem.

The scientists, including those from the University of Sheffield in the UK, said overuse of antibiotics, high animal numbers, and low genetic diversity caused by intensive farming techniques increase the likelihood of these pathogens becoming a major public health risk.

Mortality and morbidity apply to enterprises, too; MSMEs more pronounced than most. Baseline GDP growth was already in slowdown mode and a capital crunch was compounded by lockdown’s labour constraint.

The rationale behind the lockdown was not that it would prevent infections but that it would allow us to build the health infrastructure to be able to cope with larger numbers infected, opined Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Nitin Gadkari, the minister for MSME and road transport and highways, also called upon the retailers to start exploring option of home delivery.

In the past two weeks, at least five companies have either issued, or announced plans to issue, non-convertible debentures worth a total of Rs 5,500 crore, as per information available from filings with stock exchanges.

In Europe, investment grade-rated companies raised $83.2 billion in April, according to Refinitiv data.

A hike in taxes on fuels, which will add to government’s revenue, helped lift sentiment.

The gross borrowing programme for the year has been increased to Rs 12 lakh crore.

FTMF stunned all by deciding to shutter operations of six schemes with assets under management of more than Rs 25,000 crore late Thursday evening, citing redemption pressures and market volatilities in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the first instance when a fund house is shutting its schemes because of coronavirus related pandemic.

However, record-low yields are pointing to an undercurrent of worry in the market.

We manufactured a crisis much before the pandemic hit the financial world.

Though bleak, that number was smaller than analysts’ expectations of 22 million jobs lost.

Analysts in an ETNow poll had projected the number at Rs 3,000 crore.

The Covid-19 outbreak brought the world to its knees, leading to sealing of borders, ban on travel, and postponement or cancellation of all major sporting events. So, here they are now, confined to their homes with the Games delayed by a year, no competitions, no proper training and no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

In all likelihood, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves will replace the former BCCI president, who, it is learnt, has decided against seeking an extension for a third two-year-term.

Cricket Australia is under huge financial pressure due to global lockdown and has laid off 80 percent of its staff. India's four-Test tour in December-January could provide a relief to the struggling bldy