CEOs of private jet operators are planning for an industry boom after the pandemic subsides as wealthy travelers may rely on private aviation more than before. Executives predict that the health and safety aspect will make more flyers willing to pay the extra cost to fly private as opposed to first-class on commercial. The industry is investing in new cleaning and safety methods to ensure that travelers are protected when flying and encourage more individuals and businesses to make the leap to private.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.The private aviation industry is preparing for a post-pandemic boom as airlines settle in for the slow return to 2019 levels, which some experts say may take years as the industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.CEOs from the nation's

EC to hold Maha legislative council polls before May 27: sources. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was sworn in on November 28 last year, has time till May 27 to get elected to the state legislature, failing which he will have to step down.Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari had requested the Election Commission on Thursday to declare polls for nine vacant seats to the state Legislative Council.The Election Commission on Friday decided to hold polls to the Maharashtra Legislative Council before May 27, highly placed sources said. The polls were deferred due to the spread of coronavirus.Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was sworn in on November 28 last year, has time till May 27 to get elected to the state legislature, failing which he will have to step down.Maharashtra

The Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has increased by one year the retirement age health officers working in all the civic-run hospitals as atemporary measure in view of the coronavirus pandemic.Their retirement age will now be 59 instead of 58, itsaid.It also increased by one year the retirement age ofprofessors in the BMC-run medical colleges temporarily."The retirement age of the health officers and seniorhealth officers of all the BMC-run hospitals has beentemporarily increased by a year from the existing retirementage of 58 years," the civic body said.However, the decision of continuing in service isvoluntary, it said.It said the decision is not applicable for thosehealth officers, who are set to retire in the next threemonths.The BMC said that since a large number of posts ofprofessors

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has accelerated the timeframe for wiping out ₹1.61 lakh crore of net debt at his Reliance Industries by bringing in strategic investors in key businesses as well as committing more equity.Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), had in August last year set a target of March 2021 to make the oil-to-telecom conglomerate net debt-free. But thanks to a USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,547 crore) deal with Facebook, a Rs 53,125 crore rights issue and more stake sale to companies such as Saudi Aramco, the target is likely to be achieved by December.In an investor and media call post announcement of the company's fourth-quarter earnings, RIL's Joint Chief Financial Officer Srikanth Venkatachari said, "The zero net debt target will be achieved within

By Gunjan Sharma New Delhi, May 1 () The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, which has become the first academic institute to develop a COVID-19 testing method, is planning to give non-exclusive open licence to companies for commercialising the test but with a price rider. While over 40 companies have reached out to the premiere institute after it got an approval from the ICMR for the test, IIT will be giving the licence to the companies which meet its quality criteria and the test is expected to be in market within three weeks. "Over 40 companies, including a few big names, have reached out to us to commercialise the test. We will be giving open licences to companies which meet the quality criterion set by us. We also will be giving the licence with a price rider so companies do

Travel by rail, air, metro and even inter-state movement by road will continue to be restricted. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed. There will be zone-wise relaxations for areas that fall into the orange or green zones.The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that the nationwide lockdown in India has been extended by another two weeks. Instead of relaxations kicking in on May 3 — the lockdown regulation will remain in place until May 17. The decision has been made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers and other top government functionaries met yesterday (April 30).Travel by rail, air, metro and even inter-state movement by road will continue to be restricted. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed. This

New Delhi, May 2 () ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company on Saturday reported a 23.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 282 crore for the March quarter. The non-life insurer had posted a net profit of Rs 228 crore in the corresponding period of 2018-19. The gross direct premium income (GDPI) of the company stood at Rs 3,181 crore in Q4 FY20, compared to Rs 3,485 crore in Q4 FY19, ICICI Lombard said in a regulatory filing. For the full year 2019-20, the profit after tax or net profit increased 13.8 per cent to Rs 1,194 crore from Rs 1,049 crore in the preceding fiscal. GDPI of the company stood at Rs 13,313 crore in FY20 compared to Rs 14,488 crore in FY19, a de-growth of 8.1 per cent, it said. Excluding crop segment, GDPI increased to Rs 13,302 crore during the year compared to Rs

Ahmedabad, May 2 () Ahmedabad on Saturday reported 20 fatalities due to COVID-19, its highest single-day tally,and 250 new cases, a Gujarat health official said. With this, the overall death tally in Gujarat'sbiggest city has mounted to 185 while the number of cases roseto 3,543, the official said."Of the total 26 deaths reported in Gujarat on Saturday, Ahmedabad accounted for 20," said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.Of the 20 deceased, 12 were suffering from underlyinghealth conditions, she said."Ahmedabad has reported 250 of the total 333 new COVID-19 casesfrom 12 districts of the state," the official said.A total 63 coronavirus positive patients were discharged after recovery in Ahmedabad, taking their total number in the district to 462, she said. See Also - Checkout the names

Kolkata, May 2 () Fifteen people have died in West Bengal due to COVID-19 in the last 48 hours, taking the toll to 48, according to a bulletin issued by the state health department on Saturday. It said 127 new cases of coronavirus were registered from different parts of the state during this period, as the new number of active cases rose to 639.The government did not issue any bulletin on the COVID-19 status on Friday.In the last 48 hours, 60 people have been discharged from various hospitals after being cured. Now a total of 199 patients have been cured of the disease in the state.The bulletin said 4,471 samples were tested during this period to check COVID-19 and the total number of tests in West Bengal is 20,976.The total number of COVID-19 cases in West Bengal till Saturday is 886 while

India's National Pension System (NPS) has bucked the downtrend triggered by Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent nationwide lockdown to contain it. During the first three weeks of April, the scheme along with the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has seen an upsurge in new enrolments and an increase in assets under management (AUM) of these programmes.ALSO WATCH: The CEO of mutual fund house explains how to invest your savings in the post-coronavirus world In financial parlance, NPS and APY are Central government backed schemes which are administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The PFRDA is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the NPS and the pension schemes to which this Act applies.75468072The

Two out of the top three military spenders in the world are India and China – and Pakistan was among the top ten countries in terms of military spending as a portion of the GDP in 2019 – and that says something about the tension in the region. Even as the world is struggling to tame the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, India and Pakistan are exchanging fires across the Line of Control in Kashmir. Most recently, two Indian soldiers including a Colonel lost their lives. The appeal for peace from United Nations' chief Antonio Guterres has not eased the tensions so far. From the Korean Peninsula to the South China sea, to the India-Pakistan border, there are many hotspots in Asia involving the three major nuclear powers. So here's a look at how India and its two bitter neighbours have increased

The nationwide lockdown has had deep ramifications on economic activity and according to a CEO Snap Poll by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), 44.7 per cent of the corporate chiefs believe that it would take more than a year for the Indian economy to recover.According to the snap poll on the 'Impact of COVID-19 on Economy and Industry', as a majority of the firms continue to anticipate a significant decline in their revenues, they now foresee a delay in economic revival and demand recovery.SEE ALSO: Crashing crude oil cracks Reliance Industries fourth-quarter profit by nearly 40%Crashing crude oil cracks Reliance Industries fourth-quarter profit by nearly 40% "The survey results reveal that the country may experience a protracted slowdown in economic activity as a major proportion

Ahmedabad, May 3 () One more ward of Ahmedabad city was declared as a COVID-19 containment zone on Sunday, taking the total number of such wards here to 10, a senior civic official said. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is taking steps to ensure lockdown rules are strictly followed in these affected areas to contain the spread of coronavirus, he said.The Maninagar ward in south Ahmedabad is the latest to be added in the list of containment zones, the official said.The COVID-19 figures in Ahmedabad till Saturday are as follows: Total cases-3,543, deaths-184, active cases-2,815, discharged-525, total samples tested-30,166 (at the rate of 5,000 samples per million), the official said.Ahmedabad has been declared a red zone by the Centre, and the state government will decide on the lockdown

Aurangabad (Maha), May 3 () The rise in the number of COVID-19 cases to about 300 over one week in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra can be largely attributed to augmented testing capacity, a senior official said on Sunday. Divisional Commissioner Sunil Kendrekar told that the administration had earlier been testing only primary contacts of coronavirus positive cases but has now included secondary contacts as well.Aurangabad has been classified as one of the 14 'Red'zones in Maharashtra, which has reported more than 12,000 COVID-19 cases so far."Augmented testing is the reason for the rise in the number of cases. This aggressive tracing (of contacts) has also helped us in detecting more patients," he said.Kendrekar also said that since majority of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, the rate

The Bharat Stage 6 or BS6 emission norms have been implemented in India.Here are some BS6 compliant cars that you can buy under ₹10 lakh in India. To help the automakers clear BS4 stocks, the Supreme Court had extended the March 31 deadline for the implementation of BS6 norms to April 24. However, the country has been under lockdown from March 24. The BS6 vehicle emission norms focus on minimizing pollutant emissions from the vehicles.If the automakers approach the apex court again after the lockdown ends, the BS4 deadline may be extended again. However, the companies have already announced BS6 complaint variants of their cars and it’s better to go for these now.Today, we will look at some of the top BS6 compliant cars that you can get under ₹10 lakh in India. 74134283Top BS6 cars under ₹10

As countries across the world continue to grapple with COVID-19, ZEE5 Global, which is present in 190 countries, sees a 60% surge in subscriptions and 20% growth in viewership in all markets. The platform’s focus this year is going to be on expanding across geographies, localization and strengthening its content strategy.Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global further shares the growth plan, which are the key markets for ZEE5 global, and its retention strategy once the lockdown is lifted. As most countries across the globe continue being under lockdown, viewers are turning to OTT platforms to stay entertained and escape from the much scarier reality. ZEE5 Global has also seen a 60% uptick in the number of subscribers globally and a 20% growth in viewership in the past month due

Previously a top sales director at LinkedIn, Virginia joins JioSaavn to lead global brands partnerships and the company’s growing audio ad platform. She will be responsible for driving adoption of JioSaavn’s innovative advertising solutions for brands, while overseeing agency and client relationships.JioSaavn has on-boarded Virginia Sharma as Vice President of Brand Solutions. Based out of JioSaavn’s Gurgaon office, Sharma will lead the company’s global digital ad monetization efforts across platforms. She will be responsible for driving adoption of JioSaavn’s innovative advertising solutions for brands, while overseeing agency and client relationships. With more than 20 years of experience leading marketing and sales teams, Sharma joins JioSaavn from LinkedIn, where she excelled in the top

The Motorola Razr foldable phone is expected to be launched in India on May 8.The flagship foldable phone will be available exclusively from Flipkart.Lenovo-owned smartphone maker Motorola had launched its flagship foldable phone, the Motorola Razr in India in March this year and the device has now been listed with May 8 as the tentative release date on Flipkart. The smartphone was originally scheduled to be launched in the country on April 2. However, the launch was postponed to May 6 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing nationwide lockdown. While the device has been listed on Flipkart, the smartphone maker has not announced when the device will go on sale. The smartphone is priced at ₹1,24,999 for the single 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. As part of an introductory offer, Citibank

Poynter Institutes International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) on Monday launched its chatbot on WhatsApp to help two billion users of the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform to check veracity of information related to COVID-19.The IFCN's bot connects people with independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries and also with the largest database of debunked falsehoods related to the new coronavirus.75343540By using the IFCN's bot on WhatsApp, citizens from all over the world will be able to easily check whether a piece of content about COVID-19 has already been rated as false by professional fact-checkers.Since January, more than 80 fact-checking organisations from 74 countries have identified more than 4,000 hoaxes related to the novel coronavirus.All this information now forms the

"Fear is the most contagious disease you can imagine. It makes the virus look like a piker," Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said.Buffet's net worth is an estimated $72 billion, and his investment firm has a cash pile of $137 billion.Buffett's view, and it is hard to disagree with it, the worst of the coronavirus impact on the global economy and markets may not be over yet."Fear is the most contagious disease you can imagine. It makes the virus look like a piker," Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and more importantly an iconic investor said. "I don’t believe anybody knows what the market is going to do tomorrow, next week, next month, next year,” he added.The words are from a man whose net worth is an estimated $72 billion, and his investment

This is an excerpt of an article originally published by the Observer Research FoundationWork will be exactly what it is right now as the ‘future’ has already made its way to our present realities. It is then important to know how to address one of the most prevailing obstacles of our ‘new now’ — building trust within our cyber-relationships (mostly focusing on daily transactions and remote working).We know the world is heading towards an economic recession. We, therefore, need to try to make our new cyber reality as akin to real life as possible. This translates into having digital economies that want to be like the very jobs we used to have.Perhaps blockchain will have the answer. Humans produce data every single day, and there have long been debates about its ownership. Web 3.0 may now

IANS“While the lockdown has helped in flattening the curve, the curve has not shown a downward trend. That is a cause for concern,” Guleria told The Indian Express.He also believes “the next four to six weeks will be very, very important because the lockdown cannot be there forever. The ideal, the dream would be to have zero cases.”Guleria believes “we are better prepared than we were before”, but the pandemic has to be “fought at the community level, not the hospital level.”Lav Aggarwal, the spokesperson, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, highlighted the fact that for the first time since the outbreak, India’s COVID-19 cases are doubling every 12 days. Which is a huge improvement since before lockdown began coronavirus cases were doubling every 3.2 days as of March 24. However, the

BHEL has invited foreign companies to ‘Make in India’ as it seeks to capitalise on US-China tensions to solve its cash flow issues.Investors cheered the move as the stock surged nearly 10% in two days.BHEL’s stock has taken a beating this year, losing half its value after missing FY20 sales by 20%.Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has invited foreign companies to use its facilities to set up manufacturing bases in the country. The government-owned company has floated an expression of interest in this regard. The stock surged nearly 10% in two days before cooling off, as investors cheered the initiative of a state-owned company looking to invite foreign companies on the fence in China and at the same time resolve its cash flow issues — two birds with one stone. 75548252For the year 2020

In our latest episode of BTS with Insiders, Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, Ogilvy, talks about four actors, Irrfan Khan, Pushpa Joshi, Atmaram Bhende and Asha Bhende, would are no longer with us but who created magic in some campaigns created by the ad guru.Pandey shares some stories from each of the three ads, while also making an appeal to younger creative professionals to be open to identifying new actors.Last week we collectively grieved the loss of two stalwarts who made a huge impact on Indian cinema, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. When I reached out to Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, Ogilvy, for our weekly chat show, BTS with Insiders, we initially wanted to talk about three ads that he had worked on over the course of his career that he held close

Apple has announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro in India starting at ₹1,22,990.The new 13-inch MacBook Pro features increased storage and the improved Magic keyboard.The MacBook Pro will be available from authorised Apple resellers after the lockdown ends. Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro in India amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The new refresh comes just 10 months after the company had updated the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and True Tone display.The new 13-inch MacBook Pro replaces the existing Butterfly keyboard with the Magic keyboard that has a redesigned scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel, a physical escape key, Touch Bar and TouchID. The Magic keyboard was first introduced with the 16-inch MacBook Pro.Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro pricing

As researchers and health workers try out new experiments to stop the spread of coronavirus across the country, an engineering student from Varanasi has designed an 'anti-COVID-19 robot' which will help the security forces shock lockdown violators.Vishal Patel, a third year student of mechanical engineering at the Ashoka Institute in Varanasi, has developed this robot that can not only run on shallow water but can also operate comfortably on smooth and bumpy surfaces.Patel, who built the robot under the supervision of his senior Shyam Chaurasia, claims that the device is also a security shield for police personnel.It will also help the police to crack down on those flouting the lockdown rules. The police who are at a risk from coronavirus infection can maintain social distancing by operating

The notification, however, clarified that the retail price will not rise and that would mean that the state-owned fuel retailers will have to bear the burden. Many states have already hiked value-added tax on fuels this week.The hike in duties on fuel will be effective from May 6. Fuels like petrol and diesel do not come under the GST in India.India's Central government has decided to hike the excise duty on petrol by ₹10, and on diesel by ₹13, with effect from Wednesday (May 6) to fill the gaping hole in the exchequer left by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the notification clarified that the retail price of fuels won't rise to avoid hurting the consumer. That would mean that state-owned fuel retailers like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan

Aarogya Setu has claimed that the Coronavirus tracking app is secure, and no privacy breaches have been found.Elliot Alderson, an ethical hacker had claimed that he had found a security issue in the app.French ethical hacker who goes by the fictitious name Elliot Alderson claimed that there was a security issue in Aarogya Setu, the coronavirus tracking app launched by the Indian government. In his tweet, Elliot Alderson had claimed that a security issue has been found in the Aarogya Setu app and that the privacy of over 90 million Indians was at risk. Soon after this, Alderson was contacted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). After disclosing the issue to them, Alderson said that he would wait for the issue to be fixed before

Coronavirus conspiracies are being spread by far-right groups across the world – from blaming 5G technology to targeting Muslim and other minority communities.Some of the Coronavirus conspiracy theories also say that this pandemic is a population control tool.In India, the Tablighi Jamaat incident has been used by far-right groups to target Muslims using hashtags like #CoronaJihad, using the pandemic to suggest that it is a form of terrorism.Other Coronavirus conspiracies in India suggest that hot weather, clove and herbs, and alcohol can help people avoid contracting Covid-19.The Coronavirus pandemic has forced the Indian government to announce a nationwide lockdown since March 24, but it’s not just the deadly disease that we need to worry about. There have been many conspiracy theories,

BCCLSanofi plans to get thousands of subjects onboard across the world for the trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines that it is developing with GSK. Once enrolled, the company will start early-stage trials in September. The pharma giant has already partnered with GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) and is researching also exploring other options simultaneously. It hopes to introduce the vaccine next year, reported Reuters.Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company, says it is working on two different projects to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. The pharma giant has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) and is researching other options as well. It hopes to introduce the vaccine by next year, reported Reuters. The plan is to get thousands of subjects on board across the world to test

“Even after India approves the coronavirus vaccine, it might not be possible to produce more than 10-20 million doses in the first year.”The comments came from the Chairperson of Biocon in an exclusive chat with Business Insider.Syngene, a Biocon subsidiary, is involved in accelerating a bunch of initiatives to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that is spreading around the world.There are at least six vaccines under development in India, of the total 100 around the world including from the likes of Sanofi, Altimmune, and Pfizer. “Indian vaccine programmes will take some time before they get into the clinical trials, I think between 6 to 9 months depending on the programme. At least the ones we are working on, I don’t think they can get to clinics before 9 months,” Kiran Mazumdar

After coronavirus lockdown, dining experience at restaurants will not remain the same as before. Social distancing norms will be in place as restaurants reduce their capacity by half and bring in new rules for dining.Hard Rock Cafe, which has 185 restaurants across India, has drafted a plan to ensure 3-feet distance between guests. Restaurants in India have been shut for over 40 days now, with only some working in minimal capacity for takeaways. According to reports, as many as half a million restaurants might not survive the extended lockdown.And restaurants are cognizant of the fact that survival won’t come without practicing strict social distancing norms. India’s restaurants are now preparing a post-covid-19 plan to open up. And the dining experience at these restaurants may not be the

Elliot Alderson has claimed that the Aarogya Setu app allows users to find out who is sick in a particular area.He has also contradicted the Aarogya Setu team’s claim that bulk calls to the API are not possible.A French ethical hacker who goes with the alias "Elliot Alderson" earlier claimed that he found security and privacy issues in India’s Covid-19 tracker app Arogya Setu. This was denied by the Aarogya Setu team and they said that the app is secure.After this, Alderson has come up with a post highlighting the issues found by him in the Aarogya Setu app.App allows users to access internal filesIn April, Alderson found that the WebViewActivity allowed users to access internal files of the app by using commands as there was no host validation. However, the issue has now been fixed.Aarogya

The Vizag gas leak has left 10 people dead and more than 300 hospitalised.People ran to save their lives after realizing that they couldn’t breathe even inside their homes.Instead of waiting for official evacuation, people packed up whatever they could and tried to run as far as possible from the LG Polymers chemical plant.The following account is from a person living right next to the LG Polymers chemical plant.“We woke up to the gas smell from the plant,” recalls a Visakhapatnam gas leak survivor Balasouri K, who lives in a colony located right next to the LG Polymers chemical plant.“Living near the plant for many years, we can identify that it is coming from the plant. It happened earlier on a couple of occasions, but it was minor before. This time, it’s a major one,” Balasouri said.“My

ICICI Bank is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter results on May 9.It's share price inreased by over 2% today morning during early trade.The private sector bank’s retail-focused lending puts it at higher risk of bad loans due to the effects of the coronavirus lockdown than its counterparts.Last quarter, ICICI Bank managed to post a profit of 158% and its provisions were down by 58%.ICICI Bank is set to post its fourth-quarter results on May 9 and the outlook seems grim with the banking sector bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. “Banking is the first sector to get hit and the last one to recover. We’re already in a phase of credit issues,” Siddarth Purohit, a banking analyst with Angel Broking, told Business Insider.ICICI Bank is one of top ten stocks to buy, according to Maquarie,

The tech major expects a $50 million to $70 million hit in the ongoing quarter due to the ransomware attack.The management projected margins to remain below 16-17% in 2020. Cognizant shares are down 17.80% from the recent peak on February 6. They have under-performed the Nasdaq which is down 0.66% year to date. IT major Cognizant has reported a 16.7% drop in its March quarter net income at $367 million, and said it expects a challenging demand environment throughout 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Cognizant follows January-December as financial year. Its net profit was at $441 million in the March 2019 quarter.In 2020, the company plans to continue investments in developing digital skills and wants to hire about 20,000 entry-level hires to adjust the employee cost structure. 41% of the

The first mother’s day was celebrated in 1908 when a school teacher Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. She pressed to accept Mother’s day as a modern holiday in the United States. Though she started the idea, she died protesting against the commercialisation of the event.Every second Sunday of May, we celebrate mother’s day to honour our mothers. This year, we will celebrate mother’s day on May 12. It might be different from any other mother’s day as most of us are under lockdown. The first mother’s day was celebrated in 1908 when a school teacher Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. She pressed to accept Mother’s day as a modern holiday in United

Moody's Investors Service said India’s Baa2 negative rating is unlikely to improve given the economic shock triggered by the coronavirus outbreak.However, the report noted that the COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated the impact of some of India’s existing evils.The $2.7 trillion economy, the seventh largest in the world, is riddled by low household income, high government debt, and weak policy reforms and implementation.Moody's Investors Service said India’s Baa2 negative rating ⁠— while cutting growth estimate for the year to 0.2% ⁠— down from our previous forecast of 2.5%. is unlikely to improve given the economic shock triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. Over the next five years, India’s government debt could be as high as 81% of the country’s gross domestic product, it said.However,

People with requisite facility can opt for home isolation However, those who don’t have requisite space at home can opt for quarantine and isolation facilities in hotels and lodges. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 8 issued specific guidelines for quarantine of Indian returning from foreign countries. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 8 issued specific guidelines for quarantine of Indian returning from foreign countries in private facilities like hotels, service apartments and lodges.India has begun the world’s largest repatriation mission to bring as many as 1.5 million citizens home in the next few weeks today. In the first phase of repatriation, 15,000 Indian will return from 12 countries. All these passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for

This is the first earnings report released by SBI Cards and Payment Services since it was listed on the bourses in March 2020.In Q4 2020, SBI Cards’ profits fell by 66% compared to the same period last year, to ₹83.5 crore from ₹249 crore.The company also created a provision of ₹489 crore to account for the economic concerns arising due to the Covid-19 pandemic.On the flip side, SBI Cards’ asset quality improved, with its non-performing assets declining to 2.01% from 2.44% a year earlier.SBI Cards and Payment Services today posted its Q4 earnings (January-March 2020), revealing a fall of 66% in its profits to ₹83.5 crore, while its bad debts and impairment losses rose by 138% to ₹838 crore on a year-on-year basis. “Considering the possible effects from the pandemic relating to COVID-19, the

Coronavirus vaccines by the University of Oxford and China are in the most advanced clinical phase and likely the best choice for India according to Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.The US coronavirus vaccine candidates may be more talked about but they will likely be much more expensive.“We’re much more comfortable with a jab and a low-cost vaccine, which is what the Oxford and Chinese vaccines are all about,” explained Shaw.Biotechnology companies around the world are going head-to-head to create the first coronavirus vaccine as the ongoing pandemic continues to wreak havoc on normal life. Some have a headstart over others.“I think the Oxford vaccine and Chinese vaccine are certainly in the more advanced clinical phase as is the German vaccine. The two US vaccines are, of course, much

Pete Davidson said during a virtual appearance on "The Tonight Show" that a stranger came to his Staten Island home with a "full bag of weed."Davidson said it happened after he mentioned he was trying to stop using drugs in an Instagram video."Literally three hours later, a lady rang my doorbell with a full bag of weed and gave it to my mom and said, 'I heard your son needs this,'" Davidson said. The "Saturday Night Live" star said in a subsequent video that he didn't keep the marijuana (which was "a couple weeks' worth"), instead giving it to his friend. Davidson is currently promoting his new movie "The King of Staten Island" with producer Judd Apatow.Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.Pete Davidson revealed in a video interview with Jimmy Fallon that someone showed up at his mom's

Fans of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry think the two stars could be working on a collaboration, or some kind of joint announcement.The theory comes from subtle similarities in their recent social media posts.Perry announced on Thursday that her next single will be called "Daisies." The same day, Swift posted a photo of herself wearing a sweater with daisies.The Twitter account for "American Idol," on which Perry is a judge, wrote of her new song: "We can't wait to play this like 1,989 times in a row." Fans think this is a reference to Swift's album "1989," named after her birth year.Swift and Perry have had a rocky history, but famously cemented their mended friendship in Swift's 2019 music video for "You Need to Calm Down."Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.Fans of Taylor Swift and Katy

Fans are speculating that Lily Allen and David Harbour are engaged after the "Smile" singer posted a photo while wearing a diamond ring on her ring finger. According to her caption, Allen was trying to show off her "ripped" body, but one fan was more focused on the eye-catching piece of jewelry she was wearing. "Um... engagement ring??????????????" the user commented. Allen responded with a cheeky comment that referenced Brad Pitt's famous line in 1999's "Fight Club" ("The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club"). "first rule of engagement club........." Allen wrote back to the curious fan. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.Fans are speculating that Lily Allen and David Harbour are engaged after the "Smile" singer posted a photo while wearing a diamond ring on

Shay Mitchell spoke with Insider about the challenges and rewards of raising her and Matte Babel's 7-month-old daughter Atlas at home during the pandemic.The 33-year-old "Dollface" actress said that although she misses spending time with her friends and family, she and Babel have been able to witness many of Atlas' milestones. And to make sure that other parents don't feel alone during this time, the new mom has teamed up with Pampers to acknowledge and applaud parents' efforts leading up to Mother's Day on Sunday. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.Shay Mitchell, the 33-year-old "Dollface" actress, has adjusted to raising her 7-month-old daughter Atlas at home during the pandemic.Although the new mom has said that FaceTime helps her keep in touch with friends or family, Mitchell is

Mumbai, May 9 () Actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani forbodes that in the post-coronavirus film industry, it might take more time for movies to be greenlit.Talking both from the perspective of a producer and actor, Jackky said there will be some changes that will happen once the countrywide lockdown is lifted."As an actor, I see that there will be a lesser number of projects that will go on the floors. Most investors and producers will take their time to green-light projects."As a producer, there might be some pragmatic decisions to be taken on which projects to do first and how to minimise costs without affecting the scale or demands of the script," he told .Jackky's production banner, Pooja Entertatinment's two films -- Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan-starrer "Coolie No 1" and Akshay Kumar's "Bell

Mumbai, May 9 () Bobby Deol says be it the superstars or the aspiring actors, everyone is struggling right now as the nationwide lockdown has brought the Indian film industry to a grinding halt.The 51-year-old actor, who started his second innings in Bollywood with films like "Race 3" and "Housefull 4", believes the ongoing scenario across India due to coronavirus pandemic is scary. "There are a lot of actors in the industry who want work but not everybody gets that opportunity or the luck. Right now, even the big stars are also sitting at home. "Everybody is sailing in the same boat. For actors there is no way out to go and work till things get fixed. It is scary for everybody," Bobby told in an interview.The actor had finished two digital projects -- a Netflix film "Class of 83", to be