The acceptance of Indian currency is good news for Indian tourists as earlier they lost a sizeable amount due to exchange rates.

India was the top recipient of remittances worldwide in 2018, data from the World Bank shows. The remittances were boosted in part by migrants from Kerala sending.

NRI deposits between April & August saw an inflow of $4 billion, compared with $5.7 billion in the same period last year. NRIs in the Gulf, who contribute the maximum to the deposit chunk, are showing preference towards mutual funds.

India continues remains the top recipient of remittances, with its diaspora sending back $78.6 bn in 2018.

“The Directorate of Intelligence & Criminal Investigation (I&CI) of the income tax department during August and September 2019 obtained LRS data from several banks in Mumbai and Delhi and verification of the top 100 cases was undertaken. However, nothing adverse was found,” said the report, which was submitted to SIT probing black money earlier this year.

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.

An IAF fighter jet crashed into the fields here, Nawanshahr Deputy Commissioner Vinay Bublani said. The crash took place around 10.30 am, the officials said. An IAF spokesperson said the Mig-29 aircraft was on a training mission from an Air Force base near Jalandhar.

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.

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 Global Times is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. The party has been known to float ideas and guide public sentiments via the Global Times, which tends to take a nationalistic stance on issues involving other countries.

"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.

This is the phase two of the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI) programme, the ministry said, adding that airfields of the Indian Air Force were upgraded in the first phase.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting of the DGs of all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) where he appreciated the commendable work done by these forces and expressed concern over increasing COVID-19 cases, a home ministry spokesperson 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.

The US asked India to get involved in the internal political process in Afghanistan. Sources said this formed the core of the discussions between US special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad and foreign minister S. Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla in Delhi.

Among the 48 active cases, maximum 31 are in the unit that guards the Delhi Metro followed by 13 in the Mumbai international airport guarding unit. The maximum rise in cases, at 10, over the last 24 hours has also been reported from the Delhi Metro guarding unit. The force is tasked to guard civil airports (63 at present) in the country and vital infrastructure.

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.

In response to queries on inauguration of road on 8th May in Pithoragarh district Uttarakhand, MEA Spokesperson stated, “We have seen the Press Release dated 9th May 2020 issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal pertaining to the inauguration of a road in India.”

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.

Globally, the pandemic has had a far-reaching impact and responsible organisations will choose not to put any employee at risk, feels Dayapatra Nevatia, chief operating officer, Mindtree.

With donations to the PM-Cares Fund and Covid-19-related relief work eligible to be considered CSR expenditure, most companies are likely to nearly exhaust their current CSR budgets after donating to this fund or related relief work.

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

India Inc’s first attempts to move goods across states after the easing of lockdown curbs were hobbled by expired e-way bills which made it near impossible for transporters to cross checkpoints.

After nearly a month and a half in lockdown, the country's mega manufacturing engine is taking baby steps towards opening factories, but under strict hygiene and social distancing norms.

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.

There has been a 35-40% increase in the number of cases of stress and panic attack in April over previous months, according to data from counselling firms. A large number of the callers seek cure for mental stress arising out of social isolation and the workfrom-home milieu — leading to anxiety, depression, loneliness.

75% companies lack a structure or policy to address frauds in CSR programs, the report said. Many companies that are now looking to allocate their CSR funds towards Covid-19 related programs, but still do not have structures in place that could avoid frauds, it said.

On Monday, the court had also said that the order is not sustainable in view of the fact that orders and/or directions were passed interfering with the holding of AGM by the companies that are separate juristic entities without first deciding the issue of jurisdiction.

The decision of the Birlas comes in spite of a favourable verdict from a two-judge division bench of the Calcutta High Court which on Monday had asked the probate court to hear the appellant MP Birla Group companies afresh, which was one of their key petitions.

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.

​​Fed fund futures are now pricing negative fed rate by June 21.

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 company said it was able to restart operations at the plant in less than 24 hours after receiving permission from local authorities as it had started intensive preparation even before the lockdown in India came into effect in March, DICV said in a statement.

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

“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.

German car maker BMW commenced operations at the Chennai plant in accordance with the government-initiated guidelines. The company also stated that the BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad dealerships across the country would restart the operations in adherence to local government directives.

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 company in its statement said that in 4 steps, a customer can avail of online exchange, finance and insurance, personalize & own their chosen Mahindra vehicle.

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.

Areas designated as Green and orange zones, where the spread of Covid-19 infections is under control, account for more than 80% of India’s 733 districts, Uber 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 Directorate of Human Space Programme of the city- headquartered ISRO has sought proposals for 18 tentative technology development areas. Four Indian Air Force fighter pilots are currently under training in Moscow and are likely to be potential candidates for the first manned mission to space.​​

Kamal Jain, a professor at the institute's civil engineering department, claims that the software will not only reduce testing costs but will also reduce the risk of exposure to healthcare professionals. ​So far, there is no verification of his claim by a medical institution.

China on Friday named its first Mars exploration mission to be launched later this year as Tianwen-1 as it celebrated 'Space Day' to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the country's first satellite Dong Fang Hong-1 in 1970.

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.

IIT Kanpur is developing a vaccine against Covid-19, while researchers at Madras and Kanpur have built desi drones for surveillance and IIT Ropar has produced robots to deliver food and medicines to patients in hospitals and quarantine zones. These innovations are in various stages of development.