Fighting coronavirus pandemic, India lights a lamp

• There was also a massive response to Modi’s earlier call to clap, blow conch shells or ring bells for five minutes on 22 March to commend the efforts of those fighting the pandemic
• The fall in India’s electricity demand at 9 pm on Sunday also resulted in a price crash for the particular time slot on the power exchange market

Rajan urges PM to prioritise spending on poor; cautions about rise in bad loans

• Many economists have been urging the government to come out with a fiscal stimulus package to salvage economic growth rate and to save jobs
• Raghuram Rajan also urged the government to take the support of people with proven expertise and capabilities to manage the situation

Coronavirus update: Confirmed cases in India climb to 3,577, death toll at 83

• Delhi is worst-hit reporting 503 positive cases and 7 deaths
• Active coronavirus cases in the country has increased to 3,219

Govt may allow domestic, international flights in staggered manner from 15 April

• 'However, if the lockdown is extended post 14 April, airlines will have to cancel the tickets booked for that time period,' a govt official noted
• All major airlines except Air India are taking domestic bookings for dates post 14 April. Air India is taking bookings for dates post 30 April only

Covid-19: India mulls Trump's request to lift ban on hydroxychloroquine export

• India is expected to take a call after assessing its own domestic requirement for the drug
• India had announced a ban on the export of hydroxychloroquine and related formulations on 26 March

Coronavirus: Nizamuddin's Tablighi Jamaat has doubled cases in India

• Earlier, the number of confirmed cases doubled in 7.4 days, the religious event has resulted in doubling them in 4.1 days
• So far, 3,374 have tested positive for the deadly virus in India

Maharashtra Covid-19 tally jumps to 748 with 113 new cases, death toll at 45

• Majority of the deceased did not have any international travel history, but they also suffered from pre-existing health conditions
• There are 3,078 teams working across the state and surveillance of over 10 lakh population has been done

After capitulation in March, is investor apathy and dismay set to follow?

• Emerging market stocks could continue to feel the pressure
• While some indicators show that stock prices have dipped to their historical lows, investors may tend to shy away from the markets

India reassures public sector banks of capital support: Report

• In this financial year's budget announcement in February, it had not allocated any funds for capital infusion
• Instead, the banks had been encouraged to tap capital markets for funds

With over 9,000 deaths, US enters 'hardest, saddest' week in coronavirus crisis

• New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that there were nearly 600 new deaths for a total of 4,159 deaths and 122,000 total cases
• Total number of positive cases in US crosses 300,000-mark, according to Reuters tally

How covid-19 will impact realty sector

If you have already bought a house and were waiting for possession, get ready for a delay. If you are planning to buy one, wait for things to settle down

Air Deccan ceases operations, all employees put on sabbatical without pay

• Air Deccan today announced that it is ceasing its operations until further notice
• Air Deccan said it has no choice left

In fight against covid-19, India’s universities have lagged far behind China’s

• Limited investments in universities has meant that India has not been able to match up to China’s rapid strides in higher education over the past two decades

Fin min, PMO officials burn midnight oil for second fiscal stimulus

• India is currently under a 21-day national lockdown that ends on 14 April
• The lockdown has dealt a big blow to manufacturing and services. All airlines are grounded and so are the railways

India restricts diagnostic testing kit exports as coronavirus cases rise

• India in recent weeks already banned the export of certain drugs, along with ventilators, masks and other protective gear

PPF account: 5 recent rule changes you should know

• The government has relaxed a few rules on PPF and other small savings schemes due to the lockdown
• Non-deposit of mandated minimum deposit in PPF account for the year 2019-20 will not attract any penalty if payment is made till June 30

FIR lodged for trying to 'sell' Statue of Unity for ₹30,000 cr on OLX

An unknown person in Gujarat had put out an online advertisement to 'sell' the statue to 'meet' government's 'requirement for money' for hospitals and medical infrastructure to fight Covid-19

Zoom tries to fix flaws in privacy by launching two new security features

• The two new security features will include ‘Waiting Room’ and two meeting password settings
• The two password settings will be enabled by default from 5 April

Coronavirus shatters study abroad dreams of many as they look for Plan B

• There are many students who have already got admission but are now reconsidering, says a counsellor
• Interviews and announcements for several fellowship opportunities are also on hold

Lockdown improved air quality of Bengaluru

The city railway station and Peenya industrial area, which used to be among the areas with highest AQI, have seen pollution levels come down significantly

Xiaomi reportedly working on 144MP camera smartphone

• Previously, it was reported that Samsung is working on a 144MP sensor.
• Xiaomi was also one of the first companies to launch a phone with a 48MP camera

Covid-19: Going against trend, most patients in India are millennials

• India reported 58 critical cases of covid-19 and these were found in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi
• Advanced age and co-morbidities such as diabetes, kidney and cardiac ailments crucial factors in covid-19-related deaths

Coronavirus update: Tamil Nadu reports 86 new cases, total spikes to 571

Out of the 571 cases in the state, 522 cases are from the people who had attended the Tablighi Jamat in Delhi, said Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh

Cyber frauds trying to trick people with fake 'PM Cares' links

• Several fake links have been traced and disabled. Officials have asked people to use the authentic link
• Officials said Maharashtra Cyber has registered 78 cases during the lockdown for online misinformation

FPIs pull out record ₹1.1 lakh crore in March amidst Covid-19 mayhem

• The outflow of funds in March comes after six consecutive months of investment by FPIs since September 2019
• This is also the highest withdrawal ever since the FPI data has been made available by the National Securities Depository Ltd

Does it make sense to buy RBI 7.75% bonds in low-rate regime?

• Though the interest rate offered is high, the post-tax returns are lower than what debt funds offer
• The inflation rate over the next seven years can wipe out the real returns that the RBI 7.75% bonds give

Coronavirus update: Telangana sees over 100 new positive cases in last 24 hours

• This brings the total reported cases of coronavirus in Telangana to 269
• Hyderabad had the highest number of Covid-19 cases at 44 confirmed infections

Bill Gates to spend billions to produce 7 potential coronavirus vaccines

• Gates last month stepped down from Microsoft's board of directors to dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities
• In an interview with host Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, he said the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is moving forward with building manufacturing capacity

CEOs grapple with the toughest calls of their careers

The global coronavirus pandemic is forcing corporate bosses to make critical decisions about their workers without knowing what might happen next

Italy donated equipment to China; now China wants Italy to buy it back

• In an attempt to restore its humanitarian image following the crisis, China projected to the world that it would donate PPE to Italy
• Later it was revealed, it was not a humanitarian gesture but a business- Beijing had actually sold, not donated, the PPE to Italy

Radhakishan Damani donates ₹100 crore to PM CARES Fund

• Radhakishan Damani has made the contribution through his group company Bright Star Investments
• Damani has also contributed ₹55 crore to various state relief funds

Amazon working on a new game streaming platform: Report

• When it comes to cloud-based gaming, Amazon will have to compete with Microsoft and Google
• Amazon may launch an early version of its cloud gaming platform sometime this year

Covid-19: Govt to cut back containment ops only if no new case found for 4 weeks

Containment operations will be scaled down only if no new cases are reported for at least 4 weeks after the last confirmed test has been isolated and all the patient’s contacts have been followed up for 28 days

Dubai imposes 2-week lockdown, to suspend metro and tram service

• People can only leave their homes for essential purposes and just one family member is permitted to go out at any one time
• Free bus transportation and a 50% discount on taxi rides will be offered during the lockdown