d

IIT-M incubated start-up develops ‘Smart Bin System’ to prevent spread of coronavirus

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.




d

RBI continues secondary market OMO purchases in third week of April

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.




d

Kerala govt’s move to deduct salary of employees in wake of COVID-19 put on hold by HC

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




d

Andhra Pradesh government to set up digital kiosks for farmers

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.




d

Nature and spirit of international trade would depart from standard rule post COVID-19

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.




d

Farm sector to grow at a decent 3% in FY21: Niti Aayog

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.




d

Govt task force lays out Rs 111-lakh-crore infra investment road map

The task force under economic affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty submitted its final report on the “national infrastructure pipeline” (NIP) to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.




d

Supreme Court asks RBI to examine if EMI moratorium is being passed on

However, the Bench refused to interfere in the matter after the petitioners informed the judges that they were not personally affected and had filed the PILs in public interest.




d

Covid impact: Crisil expects gross NPAs to rise by 150-200 basis points this fiscal

Crisil expects GNPAs for the financial year 2020 to remain at 9.5%. Considering the Covid-19 impact, Crisil has projected GNPAs in the range of 11-11.5% for the financial year 2021.




d

Lockdown effect: Sugar output till April 30 dips 20%, mills sign more export contracts

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.




d

PM Modi tells ministries: Ensure farm credit is easy, review Essential Commodities Act

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.




d

Supply crisis looms as arrival of vegetables, fruits down sharply at Delhi’s Azadpur mandi

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.




d

Lockdown effect: States’ tax receipts shrink nearly 80% in April, May could be worse

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




d

Odisha may slash Kalia aid, merge scheme with PM-Kisan

The Odisha government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for farmers, Kalia, which was announced a few months before the Assembly elections last year, may be curtailed and subsumed in the PM-Kisan scheme run by the Centre.




d

PM Modi holds key meeting with Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman on steps for financial sector

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.




d

Covid lockdown effect: Banks, NBFCs urge RBI to extend moratorium by another three months

With the countrywide lockdown set to continue for two more weeks, banks have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the three-month moratorium on loans by another three months beyond May 31.




d

Audit files to be opened for scrutiny for greater accountability

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has floated draft procedures for submission of audit logs to the regulator by audit companies and chartered accountants (CAs).




d

MFIs see demand picking up soon due to emergency loan requirement, kharif cultivation

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.




d

Tax collections to decline further in May, state’s fiscal deficit may touch 4% in FY21: Sushil Modi

The revenue situation will only get worse next month as the lockdown in the whole of April would be reflected in collections in May, said Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.




d

Covid blues: Manufacturing PMI sees record slide in April

Indian manufacturing saw its worst contraction in April, as a nation-wide lock-down hit fresh orders and businesses cut staff at a record pace.




d

MSME package: Loan guarantee, fund to clear dues to small units soon

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.




d

Highway projects: Infrastructure panel wants HAM curtailed, favours BOT model; here’s why

The Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) for highway projects that insulates private developers from virtually any commercial risks, is putting stress on the highly-leveraged balance sheet of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and should therefore be ‘downplayed’.




d

Pre-GST CENVAT credit available till June-end revised

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed taxpayers registered under Goods and Services Tax (GST) to claim accumulated CENVAT credit from pre-GST regime till June 30, 2020, and noted that the benefit of transitional credit will be applicable for three years (since launch of GST on July 1, 2017) which is the period mentioned in the limitation Act.




d

COVID-19 crisis: Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee for large fiscal stimulus, cash transfer to poor

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.




d

Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: States up taxes on auto fuels, liquor for income

At least 13 states hike VAT on petrol/diesel since mid-March, many make liquor costlier with new imposts.




d

Resumption post-Coronavirus lockdown: DMs hold the key to firms opening plant, office lock

Companies need to seek permission from the local administration – the office of the district magistrate – by submitting a host of information. Apart from the process being tedious and time-consuming, the final decision rests at DM's discretion.




d

Delhi hikes VAT on petrol, diesel — check new rates

Diesel prices in Delhi went up to Rs 69.39 per litre on Tuesday, a surge of Rs 7.10 per litres, as the state government increased the value added tax (VAT) on diesel from 17% to 30%.




d

Co-operative banks can invoke SARFAESI Act, seize and sell defaulters’ assets to recover dues, says SC

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.




d

GSTN allows inter-head cash transfer for taxpayers; resolves cash flow issues

GSTN added that a taxpayer can now transfer the amount available in an electronic cash ledger from one major head to another major head, keeping the minor head the same.




d

No Aarogya Setu app on mobile punishable act in Noida: Police

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




d

Tamil Nadu hikes liquor prices by up to Rs 20, Tasmac shops to open today

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to hike prices of liquor by up to Rs 20, as it is readying itself to open liquor outlets on Thursday.




d

COVID cess on liquor: Kerala may go Delhi way

Following the devastating flood in 2018, the state had collected a flood cess which had fetched Rs 308.68 crore to the state exchequer.




d

Procedural relief to GST payers, but experts say no substitute for financial package

The e-way bill generated on or before March 24 and expiring during the March 20-April 15 period would now be valid till May 31.




d

Lower power tariff can boost Make in India after corona crisis

"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.




d

Indian spinners stare at $3-billion loss in FY21: Icra

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




d

Refunds for garments exporters: Govt clears Rs 3,000-crore pending claims, more to follow

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.




d

Italian ‘Arte Povera’ art critic Germano Celant dies

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




d

Algerian singer Idir, a Berber icon, has died in Paris

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.'




d

Hollywood artist tutors Arabic-speaking kids during pandemic

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




d

Coverage of Kashmir crackdown, Alaska policing, win Pulitzers

The New Yorker took the feature reporting prize for Ben Taub’s piece on a detainee at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with judges saying the story offered 'a nuanced perspective on America’s wider war on terror.'




d

Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Nickel Boys’ wins Pulitzer Prize

Several of the works honored in the arts explored race in American culture, including the music winner, Anthony Davis’ opera The Central Park Five. It tells of the wrongful conviction of five black and Latino teenagers for the 1989 assault on a white female jogger in Central Park. Five adult singers depicted the group as boys and men in Davis’ opera




d

Locked out of galleries, Londoners find Caravaggio street art

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




d

Finding the spirit of clowning, in confinement

Clown Me In co-founder Sabine Choucair discusses the group’s new online workshop series, each Friday, ‘Happy Half-Hour’




d

Met Opera Mezzo Rosalind Elias dies at 90

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on March 13, 1930, Elias was the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters whose parents had migrated to the U.S. from the region later called the Republic of Lebanon




d

Kraftwerk founder Florian Schneider dies aged 73

Schneider and collaborator Ralf Hutter combined the German language lyrics with synthesisers and drum machines to create 'krautrock,' which won Kraftwerk a legion of musician fans, including David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk and Kanye West




d

‘Bailing out the Titanic’ - French arts struggle amid coronavirus

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




d

Over 100 arrests in global crackdown on artefacts trade

'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'




d

Virus tributes unite walls dividing Belfast

Since 1998, Northern Ireland's murals have shifted from glorifying gunmen towards depictions of happy times. The tributes to frontline healthcare workers could be a similar sign old wounds are healing




d

Blind luck, red wine: Famed war photographer beats virus at 97

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




d

Little Richard, flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, dead at 87

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