Even while the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have provided some stimulus, further support may be required to help real estate and for the economy to stay afloat during the crisis.

While the government has fixed the wheat MSP at Rs 1,925/quintal, traders are buying the grain at about Rs 1,700-1,800/quintal in mandis in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

With the increased WMA limit, state governments are expected to plan their market borrowings in a better way rather than bunch up their borrowings, leading to oversupply issues.

Ginning units are not keen on buying cotton since most of the workers have left for their villages and they do not have the capital to buy cotton and other processing units are also shut.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) will not be granting permission to restart operations till May 3. Their online and offline permission system has been stopped.

The ministry of home affairs (MHA) had on April 19 issued a detailed standard operating procedure while allowing suitable deployment of their skills. As per Census, 2001, the total number of internal migrants in India was 309.385 million.

RBI notified that it will buy long-dated bonds maturing in 2026, 2028, 2029 and 2030 while it will sell short-dated securities maturing between June 2020 and April 2021. Both the purchase and sale will be worth Rs 10,000 crore each.

Pawar’s letter to Modi dated April 25 echoed similar demands raised by many states including Kerala and Punjab, and underlined the notion that cutting spending was hardly an option for states at this juncture.

The decline was led by container volumes which fell sharply by 12% y-o-y (in TEU terms; 9% y-o-y in tonnage terms).

The government has taken measures to contain expenditure, like freeze on its employees’ dearness allowance; it has also announced a relief package to support the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections.

In the case of Covid-19, hazardous waste is being generated in hospitals, quarantine zones or red zone areas within cities. They are potential sources of Covid-19 and can cause further spread within the locality.

Although there is no concrete proof, experts believe a large chunk of this is likely to be T-Bill purchases by the RBI from the secondary market.

The state government, in its order, said that the employees' salary for six days every month would be deducted for the next five months.

Besides, the state government will create new bank accounts for some 56 lakh farmers and issue 1.12 crore credit/debit cards to them by the next kharif season to enable them to avail crop loans and other government benefits.

India has firmly established itself as a net steel exporter in FY20 with total steel exports at 11.183 MT (31 % growth over last year) exceeding the total steel imports at 7.164 MT by 4.02 MT.

Agriculture minister Tomar says Rs 18-k cr disbursed under PM-Kisan since lockdown began, to raise share of agriculture-related works under MNREGA to 77% in FY21 from 66% in FY20.

Mills in Uttar Pradesh have produced 11.65 MT as on April 30, 2020, which is 3.72 lakh tonne higher than what was produced a year ago. Of 119 mills operated this year, 44 mills have ended their crushing. As many as 75 mills are operating as against 68 mills last year till April 30.

The prime minister is said to have suggested exploring possibility of creating commodity specific Board or Council so that cluster/contract farming takes place as that will help increase agricultural exports from the country.

Delhi’s Azadpur mandi, the country’s largest market yard for these items, saw arrivals of onion, tomato and potato drop by 14-31% during April 16-30 from the previous fortnight.

State governments seem to have collected the lowest-ever inflation-adjusted monthly tax revenue in April.

The central government will likely ramp up market borrowing in the second half of this fiscal, but may be forced to stick to its target for the first half at the moment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a crucial meeting with home minister Amit Shah and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to firm up strategies for the financial sector in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) believe the industry will bounce back in no time as they see demand for microcredit rising soon because of emergency loan requirements of their customers to restart businesses.

The government is considering a raft of relief measures, including setting up a Rs one lakh crore fund to expedite clearances of dues owed to MSMEs, guarantee on the enhanced limit of loans (up to 20%) and a mechanism to help them pay salaries to their employees.

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has recommended that India offer cash to the poorest 60% of its population and waive off loan repayments for small businesses in the June quarter, as he pitches for a large enough fiscal package to stimulate demand in the economy ravaged by the novel coronavirus crisis.

The SARFAESI Act, which is now rarely being used after the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has come into existence since 2016, allows banks to seize, take control, manage and sell assets of defaulting borrowers without the intervention of any court/tribunal and also ensures speedy recovery.

The section can attract a fine of Rs 1,000 or imprisonment up to six months.

"It is the time to review the policy of cross subsidisation of power as this plays a part in making our industries non-competitive,” former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said at an online panel discussion on the power sector.

As the lockdown in China was lifted from the beginning of April 2020 onwards, spinners there have been scaling up operations.

In an office memorandum dated April 30, reviewed by FE, the revenue department has said it has approved the release of the RoSL benefits, which will, however, be in the form of scrips, instead of cash.

Through key exhibitions and texts, Celant was an influential proponent of the work of young Italian artists in Turin, Milan, Genoa and Rome, working with natural materials and elements such as dirt, sticks or rags who were seeking to challenge the commercial art scene at the time

Born in Ait Lahcene, near the Kabylie capital of Tizi Ouzou, then part of French Algeria, he studied to be a geologist, but his life took a turn in 1973 when he was called up as a last-minute replacement on the radio to sing the Berber lullaby 'A Vava Inouva.'

There's not nearly enough original Arabic-language content online to keep young Arab kids entertained, so Syrian-born animation artist Reem Ali Adeeb and her sister Sandi set up Susupreemo, a YouTube channel designed to help Arabic-speaking kids weather the coronavirus lockdown through basic tutorials on drawing and such

The Italian baroque master’s 'Supper at Emmaus' is usually exhibited at London's National Gallery but, with that shut, Stanhope’s giant interpretation is now on show in Ladywell, southeast London

'Thanks for all you’re doing,' the artist said in a note for hospital workers. 'I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.'

With the entertainment industry shut down by the virus, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to extend aid for out-of-work actors and performers until next year, and to set up a fund to help the paralysed film industry

'Organised crime has many faces. The trafficking of cultural goods is one of them. It is not a glamorous business run by flamboyant gentlemen forgers, but by international criminal networks'

Celebrated wartime and celebrity photographer Tony Vaccaro, now 97, is getting over a bout with COVID-19. He attributes his longevity to 'blind luck, red wine' and grit

In a country where art is widely seen as a pastime, and performers have long struggled to secure steady pay and royalties, the closure of theatres and cinemas and the cancellation of summer festivals has wrought havoc

Little Richard, the self-proclaimed 'architect of rock ‘n’ roll' whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, has died Saturday. He was 87

The Volvo XC90 SUV presented this week is the first production car that in combination with Uber’s self-driving system is capable of fully driving itself.

The Kona Electric is lightning quick from any speed to any speed, because the massive 395Nm of torque is delivered instantly by the electric motor, unlike a petrol/diesel vehicle where the engine needs to reach a particular RPM to deliver similar power

The Seltos has a modern design, and one that the next-generation Creta (likely in 2020) could take some cues from.

Honda Cars implements new corporate identity for its dealer network.

The Kona Electric, the world’s first electric compact SUV, was launched in India last week. Priced Rs 25.3 lakh, it’s available for sale in 11 cities.

Guidance for year has been cautious; FY20/21e EPS up 1/0.4%; valuations are fair; ‘Neutral’ maintained

It’s the only MPV in the country with a factory-fitted CNG option

Earlier this week, Porsche India gave the Macan SUV a comprehensive upgrade; it launched the new Macan (Rs 69.98 lakh) and the more powerful Macan S (Rs 85.03 lakh). The Macan is a compact SUV made by Porsche.

MapmyIndia says it has a solution that tells the exact range of an electric car, as it is being driven

For instance, German automaker Volkswagen, which has had a reasonable success with the Polo hatchback, arrived late to the party in the Indian compact sedan segment (with the Ameo) and still doesn’t have a sub-4 metre SUV.