More than stimulus, virus-affected countries need proactive fiscal policies: IMF

• The IMF chief economist terms the current economic stasis as 'The Great Lockdown' and that it is fundamentally different from The Great Depression and 2008 financial crisis
• 'Unlike previous instances, this time around, we actually don’t want people to go out and spend,' she said at an American talk show

Sensex up 20% from March lows. Here is what market analysts say

• The broader Nifty reclaimed 9100 levels
• Auto, banking and pharma stocks led gains today

Covid-19: In wake of SC order, private labs urge govt to reimburse testing costs

• A testing lab executive says tests involve use of PPE, which cost anywhere between ₹1,500-2,000, transportation of the samples, apart from testing kits
• Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that Covid-19 tests in approved private laboratories should be conducted free of cost

Covid-19 hangs over the future like a spectre: RBI report

• RBI says macroeconmic risks brought on by the covid-19 outbreak looks severe, the outlook would depend on the intensity, duration and spread of the pandemic
• The impact of the pandemic comes at a time when the economy was just at the turn of a recovery, says the central bank

Cognizant withdraws 2020 guidance as covid-19 pandemic blurs business visibility

• Cognizant expects its Q1 revenue at $4.22-$4.23 billion, up 3.4-3.6% YoY in constant currency terms
• The company has more than more than 2 lakh employees people in India

Centre sanctions ₹15,000-crore Covid-19 emergency package for states, UTs

• Centre has approved a Covid-19 emergency response and health system preparedness package in a bid to strengthen the national and state health systems
• The Centrally-funded project will be implemented in three phases -- from January 2020 to March 2024

Unfair to expect telcos to extend recharge benefits to all prepaid users: COAI

• Trai had asked telcos to ensure uninterrupted services to all 2G prepaid users
• The value of such benefits is more than ₹600 crore, according to COAI estimates.

India's fuel sales drop 18% in March; petrol demand falls 16%, diesel slips 24%

• Petrol, diesel demand slumps 66% in April; ATF down 90%
• India had consumed 2.4 million tonnes of petrol and 7.3 million tonnes of diesel in April 2019

India February IIP rises to 4.5%

• During February, mining and manufacturing grew at 10% and 3.2% respectively while electricity generation rose 8.1%
• The IIP in the preceding month of January was at a revised 2.1%

Covid-19 cases in India cross 5,800-mark, death toll at 169. State-wise numbers

• Mahrashtra is the worst affected state in India with nearly 1,100 coronavirus cases
• Coronavirus has infected over1.5 million people across the world

IMF anticipates sharply negative economic growth fallout since Great Depression

• Covid-19, which originated in China, has globally claimed 88,538 lives and infected nearly 1.5 million people
• The virus is causing a tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people

Coronavirus: Uber to provide ₹25 crore in grants to driver partners in India

• Uber is rolling out a Hospital Cash Insurance policy that will benefit driver-partners, and cover COVID-19 and other illnesses which require hospitalization, for up to 14 days
• Uber is also looking at raising an additional ₹25 crore through employee and third-party contributions.

Spain sees daily drop in coronavirus deaths, over 15,000 total

• The daily toll was down from 757 on Wednesday
• The country, one of the worst hit by the pandemic, has now recorded 15,238 deaths from Covid-19

In Odisha, you can be penalised from ₹200-500 for not wearing masks in public

• The state government has also promulgated an ordinance with provision of imprisonment of up to two years for those who violate the epidemic regulations
• The general public is directed to cover their mouths and noses with any available form of mask while stepping out of the house for any purpose

India’s corona curve steeper than Asian peers even as trajectory dips slightly

So far this week, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana have seen the highest spurt in covid-19 cases

US Covid-19 deaths may be 60,000, half of projections, says NIAID chief Fauci

• NIAID chief Anthony Fauci said US fatalities from coronavirus may be as low as 60,000 — far fewer than earlier projections — because of safety measures such as social distancing
• Earlier, the NIAID chief had projected tota fatalities something between 100,000 to 200,000

Covid-19 lockdown: Demand for video calling continues to surge, says Microsoft

• Microsoft said that video calls on Teams, which competes with apps such as Slack and Zoom, were up 1,000% in the month of March
• Slack said last month that its users increased to 12.5 million on March 25

Titan stock glitters after Q4 update; are investors clutching at straws?

• The company's revenue from the ewellery segment declined 5% year-on-year during January-March
• Jewellery revenue had risen by about 11% for the nine-month period ended December

India pulls off first of record bond sales with higher costs

• The govt is seeking to sell ₹4.88 trillion of bonds in the six months to September, as the first part of a record-borrowing program
• The govt sold all ₹10,000 crore of the benchmark bond, with a bid-to-cover ratio similar to its last sale, and a cutoff yield just two basis points above expectations

Research reveals smartphone fingerprint sensors can be duped 80% of the time

• Research shows that invention of 3D printers has made it easy to clone fingerprints
• Researchers at Talos conducted tests on popular Android, iOS smartphones

No action plan for resuming train services from April 15: Railways

• Railways said that it is premature to speculate about the norms of resumption of passenger services at this stage
• The railways said that all concerned would be intimated about the same as and when a decision is taken about it

10 coronavirus drugs are under trial, US shows 'unprecedented' effort: Trump

• Mike Pence said the US was having four separate clinical trials on the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine
• In the absence of either a vaccine or a drug, the novel coronavirus has claimed more than 88,500 lives and has infected nearly 1.5 million people globally

Bengaluru voted best city for IT professionals, Hyderabad 2nd: Survey

• Over 40 per cent of information technology (IT) professionals voted Bengaluru as the top city to work, according to TechGig's survey
• Hyderabad and Pune secured the second and third spots

‘Lives over livelihood’ says Odisha CM, extends lockdown till 30 April

• The current 21-day lockdown, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, is scheduled to end on 14 April
• Odisha has urged the Centre not to resume train and air services until 30 April

The $86 trillion question is how to get people back to work

• With planes grounded, supply chains ruptured and factories idled, the $90 trillion global economy is enduring one of its worst shocks since the Great Depression
• Reopening economies safely would require antibody tests to identify communities that were least affected.

Kerala readies 1.75 lakh isolation beds fearing wave of infection post lockdown

• Kerala expects a lot of its overseas expats and people stuck in other states to return to their homes
• Isolation beds have been set up in hospitals, hotels in anticipation of the third wave

Covid-19: States may not sustain this level of debt burden, says Kerala FM

• Kerala's GDP may take a 1-2% hit as tourism and remittances will recover in five-six months after the crisis ends
• All states will be in a major crisis if the central government does not allow them to borrow more

IIM Calcutta students lost 6 job offers due to the Covid-19 crisis

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global headquarter of one recruiter has rescinded six job offers at IIM Calcutta
• One startup has communicated business difficulties

No need to panic over availability of PPE: Health ministry

• The total number of COVID-19 cases in India is 5,734 and 166 people have died due to the disease
• Orders for 49,000 ventilators have been placed and their supply is underway, said Lav Aggarwal

Coronavirus: 143 cases reported in Mumbai, tally in Maharashtra nears 1,300

• Mumbai, India's financial capital is the worst affected by the COVID-19
• A total of 8 people died in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the death toll in the state to 72

95-year-old grandma donates one month's pension to fight against coronavirus

Nghakliani, the widow of a lawmaker of Mizoram, kept on saying that she wanted to do something for those engaged in the war against novel coronavirus pandemic

Rupee falls to record low against US dollar, then recovers

• The rupee is down over 7% against the US dollar so far this year
• Traders said investor sentiments remain fragile amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus: Mumbai seals coronavirus hotspots in Dharavi area. See full list

• As many as 13 people tested positive in Dharavi area in a week
• Maharashtra was the only state to register more than 1,000 cases in the country