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In the post-COVID period there will be a flight of capital from China and India will certainly be an attractive destination for them, Ram Madhav said.

PTI

The post-COVID19 world order will be “markedly different” and it will be in Pakistan’s own interest to change its actions like supporting terrorism, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said on Sunday, asserting that India knows how to handle such countries.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, he also said that there will be a flight of capital from China in the post pandemic phase and India will be an attractive destination for investments by global corporate giants.

Strongly rejecting allegations of “Islamophobia” in India, Mr. Madhav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is enjoying support of all communities in the fight against coronavirus and those suffering from “Modi-phobia” are trying to communalise the country’s discourse.

In an apparent reference allegations of Muslims being targeted for the spurt in COVID-19 cases after a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, the BJP general secretary said: “It will not be fair to blame an entire religious community for perceived mistakes of some members of a group. It doesn’t help the community and country at large.”

On Pakistan, Mr. Madhav said the country has not relented on its anti-India and pro-terror campaigns even when the entire world is focusing on dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

“It shows that somewhere something is hugely amiss in Pakistan’s leadership. It doesn’t want to improve relations with India,” he said.

Mr. Madhav said “Pakistan itself will be forced to decided what place it wants in the post-COVID19 global order. It is as much a question to Pakistan as much to China.”

He further said “It will be in Pakistan’s own interest to change its actions in emerging new world order and India knows how to handle such nations.”

Pakistan has been unrelenting in its efforts to push militants into India as there have been rising incidents of unprovoked firing by Pakistan military along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in the last few weeks notwithstanding the coronavirus crisis, according to military officials.

Talking about China, Mr. Madhav said he felt many companies will move out of the neighbouring country in the wake of the coronavirus crisis and India will be an attractive destination for them.

In the post COVID period there will be a flight of capital from China and India will certainly be an attractive destination for them, he said.

The BJP leader said the allegations of Islamophobia are nothing but some sort of propaganda and are not based on the ground reality.

There has been a wave of angry reactions on Twitter by leading citizens and rights activists from various Arab countries following allegations that Muslims are being blamed for spreading COVID-19 in several parts of India.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a powerful bloc of 57 countries, recently accused India of “Islamophobia”. India rejected the charges as regrettable.

Crediting Mr. Modi’s leadership for effectively handling the pandemic, Mr. Madhav said: “India has set a shining example that how visionary leadership, democratic governance and popular support can work together to face such challenges.

He said one of the major reasons for successful handling of coronavirus crisis is that the country is “unitedly” standing behind the government.

Referring to surveys showing higher approval ratings for Mr. Modi among global leaders, Mr. Madhav said they reflected that he is enjoying the support of Muslims, Christians and all other minorities.

“Look at the way the country has responded to his clarion calls to light lamps or clap for corona warriors. But some elements are trying to communalise the discourse as they are suffering from Modi-phobia,” he said.

Serious disruption in revenue stream would stall mega projects reducing the demand for workers from South Asia.

Atul Aneja

Indian expatriate workers hit by a combination of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections and a steep drop in oil prices, who are planning to leave in droves from the Gulf countries, may have to prolong their stay at home on return, as economic recovery in the energy-rich region could take at least a year.

A Regional Economic Outlook Update for the Middle East and Central Asia released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month points out that because of lower global demand and lower oil prices, oil exporting countries will lose around $250 billion in revenues across the region.

“Looking at Middle East [West Asia], North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP), we project the region to contract by 3.1% this year. This comes after an expansion of 0.7% last year. Facing a double whammy, oil exporters in MENAP contract by even more, 4.2%,” said Jihad Azour of the IMF at a virtual press conference last month.

Analysts point out that the serious disruption in the revenue stream would stall mega projects in the Gulf, reducing the demand for expat labour from South Asia.

Plummeting oil prices below $30 have upset the budgets of oil producing countries, hollowing out their appetite for big construction and infrastructure projects. According to the ratings firm Fitch Ratings, Saudi Arabia would require a price of $91 per barrel to balance its budget. Oman would need to sell at $ 82, Abu Dhabi at $65, Bahrain at $96, Qatar at $55 to go ahead with their budgeted plans.

In Saudi Arabia, the price meltdown is expected to badly hit the ambitious Vision 2030 project, to transform the Kingdom by implanting a robust non-oil economy, through massive investments in areas such as health, infrastructure and tourism — all requiring large pools of blue and white collar workers.

Till the time that oil prices rebound, the Gulf’s oil exporters may have to rely on their sovereign wealth funds to make up for their financial shortfalls for some time. For instance, Saudi Arabia has around $500 billion in its sovereign wealth fund, which it could use to meet its financial commitments for a limited period.

But the IMF’s update points to a modest economic recovery in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next year. Growth is expected to plummet by 2.7% in 2020 but is expected to rise by 3.3 in 2021. That could revive some of the stalled labour-absorbing projects, but the scale could be modest because of high indebtedness of the Gulf economies, diverting funds. “Large forthcoming maturing debt presents financing risks in current market conditions. High public debt levels may limit fiscal space available to undertake additional measures,” the IMF observes.

With inputs from The Hindu

One million tests conducted till date; ICMR ramps it up to 75,000 per day.

India, on Saturday, recorded the biggest single-day jump of 2,411 COVID-19 cases, taking the total number to 37,776, according to data released by the Union Health Ministry.

This is the largest rise in cases since January, when the infection was first detected in India.

With 71 more deaths, the death toll has gone up to 1,223. India currently has 26,535 active COVID-19 cases, and 10,017 patients have recovered.

“In the last 24 hours, more than 1,061 patients were cured. This takes our total recovery rate to 26.65%,” added the Ministry.

Data from the State Health Departments put the total number of cases at 39,435, of which 27,534 are active ones.

The number of fatalities stood at 1,316.

With 790 new cases, the number of cases in Maharashtra reached 12,296. Mumbai accounted for 547 of the cases.

The death toll in the State rose to 521, with 27 deaths in Mumbai and nine in other parts of the State.

Gujarat reported 26 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in a single day so far, taking the over all toll to 262. With 333 new cases, most of them in Ahmedabad, the tally in the State rose to 5,054, an official said.

419 Labs: India crossed the million-mark for conducting RT-PCR tests, with the Indian Council of Medical Research now having ramped up testing to more than 75,000 samples per day.

“Currently, there are 419 labs testing for coronavirus in the country. There are currently 14 mentor institutions, including AIIMS, PGI Chandigarh, CMC Vellore, JIPMER Puducherry, and SGPIMS Lucknow, who are hand-holding several medical colleges/ labs/ hospitals in carrying out tests. There are 15 institutions spread in the country working as depots for supplying testing kits/ material to these labs,” a senior government source said.

A senior ICMR officials added that they are following the United States decision to give permission for emergency use of Ebola drug Remdesivir for treating coronavirus. “It is a development which is being followed across the world and India is no exception,” he said.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, has now cautioned against the abuse of antibiotics stating that these do not work against viruses. “They only work on bacterial infections. COVID-19 is caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not work. Antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment of COVID-19. They should only be used as directed by a physician to treat a bacterial infection,” the Ministry said.

Additional guidelines on rationed use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have also been issued by the Health Ministry, adding that prescribed standard precautions are to be followed at all times by health care professionals.

INDIA reports 37336 (+1971 new)cases and 1218 (+66 new)total deaths #Coronavirus (Covid19) trend analysis graph for INDIA.#CoronaVirusUpdates #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/yULCoOL7rN

— Coronavirus Covid-19 Updates (@estiwave) May 2, 2020

“PPEs are not alternative to basic preventive public health measures such as hand hygiene, respiratory etiquettes which must be followed at all times. Also healthcare professional are to always follow the laid down protocol for disposing off PPEs as detailed in infection prevention and control guideline,” noted the release.

It added that patients and their attendants are encouraged to put on face cover at all times.

The Health Ministry has reiterated that India has many people with COVID-19 who are experiencing only mild symptoms and this is particularly true at the early stages of the disease.

“It is, therefore, possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who has, for example, just a mild cough and does not feel ill. The main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing. The risk of catching COVID-19 from someone with no symptoms at all are low but the possibility cannot be ruled out.”

It added that the currently the most common known symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough.

“Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell,’’ noted the Ministry.

It has said that in India most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. Around 1 out of every 6 people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

With inputs from The Hindu

Surjewala urged the Prime Minister and the Centre to ferry the migrant labourers to their home in sanitised trains for free, along with food.

PTI

The Congress on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must come forward and address the countrymen to enlighten them on the way ahead in dealing with the coronavirus and the economic situation.

Asking when the lockdown will finally end, Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Prime Minister must also lay out the exit strategy from it and spell out the goalpost in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and economy.

“Will we see another lockdown? When will the lockdown finally end? The Prime Minister must come forward and address 130 crore Indians and enlighten them on the way ahead,” he told reporters at a press briefing through video-conferencing.

Accusing the government of not handling the issue of migrant labourers in a humane or compassionate manner, Mr. Surjewala urged the Prime Minister and the Centre to ferry the migrant labourers to their home in sanitised trains for free, along with food.

PTI

A day after the Modi government announced extension of the coronavirus-induced lockdown till May 17, the DGCA on Saturday said all commercial passenger flights will remain suspended till midnight of May 17.

“It is reiterated that foreign and domestic airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations whether international to/from India or domestic, respectively, in due course,” a circular of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated.

India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of coronavirus. All commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

However, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by the DGCA are allowed to operate.

Coronavirus has infected over 37,000 people and killed more than 1,200 people in India till now.

The first phase of lockdown in India was from March 25 to April 14. The second phase started on April 15 and would end on May 3. The third phase would be from May 4 to 17.

Club all sedition cases filed in various States, says petitioner

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Delhi government to respond to a plea made by anti-Citizenship Amendment Act activist Sharjeel Imam to club the five sedition cases registered against him in different States and to have them investigated by a single agency.

A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan gave the Delhi government 10 days to file a response even as it said there was nothing wrong in the registration of an FIR if the police had information about a cognisable offence.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, for Mr. Imam, referred to how the top court had urgently heard the case of journalist Arnab Goswami even as it stayed all multiple FIRs against him except for the one in Nagpur, which was shifted to Mumbai. Mr. Dave asked why his client, whose personal liberty was also at stake, should not be provided with a similar relief.

Mr. Dave, in a hearing held through videoconferencing, said FIRs were registered against his client in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. He has been booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Mr. Imam was arrested by Delhi police’s Crime Branch on January 28 from Jehanabad in Bihar for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh, during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Centre for Historical Studies has been booked on sedition and other charges after videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches were circulated on social media.

With inputs from The Hindu

Maruti Suzuki said last month it will continue to support central bank and state governments and followall advisories in combating COVID-19.

Reuters

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest carmaker, on Friday reported zero domestic sales last month. That marked the first time ever that Maruti Suzuki posted zero sales in a month in the domestic market. The company said all its production facilities were closed in compliance with the government orders. The country continues to remain in a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has pushed business into a standstill.

Here are 10 things to know:

1. In a regulatory filing, the auto maker said that the nil sales included sales to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

2. The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has crushed demand in the country’s auto industry, already struggling with falling sales that forced many auto manufacturers to trim their production.

3. In March 2020, Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales had dropped 47.9 per cent to 76,976 vehicles. The company, however, said that the March 2020 sales were not comparable with the corresponding period a year ago due to the suspension of operations during the month in line with national policy.

4. Maruti Suzuki suspended operations from March 22.

5. Industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ data showed last month that domestic passenger vehicle sales dropped 51 per cent in March. SIAM said the country’s automobile sector witnessed one of its sharpest decline in domestic sales during the month due to subdued demand, further aggravated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

6. In April 2019, Maruti Suzuki India had sold 134,068 vehicles in the domestic market. Its total sales – including domestic sales and exports – were at 1,43,245 vehicles that month.

7. As of Friday morning, total coronavirus cases in the country rose to over 35,000, including 1,147 deaths.

8. Maruti Suzuki said last month it will continue to support central bank and state governments and follow all advisories in combating COVID-19, and is fully committed to the safety and well-being of its employees, business partners and customers.

9. Concerns about the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak have spooked the markets and businesses across the globe.

10. Maruti Suzuki shares are down 27.24 per cent so far this year, as against a 18.27 per cent fall in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index. In April, the stock recovered 25.01 per cent, following a 31.77 per cent plunge in the previous month.

The 57-member prominent international Mulim grouping, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), recently accused India of “Islamophobia”.

PTI

Asserting that incidents and comments against Muslims were bound to attract negative reactions abroad, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said it is more important to change the domestic reality than do damage control, while referring to India’s criticism in the Arab states over alleged “Islamophobia”.

What matters is not what the government says but how it is perceived because of what it does, or let others do, Mr. Tharoor said, and alleged that the Modi government has “shamefully failed” to curb the appalling behaviour of many of its “most rabid supporters”, including some in high positions.

“Let us not forget that ‘Ramzade/Hara…..’ comment came from a minister, and the latest remark from a BJP MLA in UP telling people not to buy vegetables from a Muslim vendor,” Mr. Tharoor said.

His remarks were an apparent reference to 2014 comments reportedly made by Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, and the recent controversy triggered by Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Suresh Tewari who allegedly asked people not to buy vegetables from Muslim vendors. The BJP on Tuesday issued a show cause notice to Tewari for his remarks.

In an interview to PTI, Mr. Tharoor alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, throughout the last six years, been too slow to “condemn his party’s bigotry and has condoned overt expressions of Islamophobia from his own camp”.

“The attitude that India loves Muslims so long as they are outside India, but insults them at home, is not tenable in a world of instant global communications. The mounting number of incidents and statements against Muslims in India was bound to attract negative attention abroad,” the former Union minister said.

His remarks came in the backdrop of angry reactions from UAE royal princess, Kuwait government and other leading citizens from various Arab countries after some people blamed Muslims for spreading COVID-19 in several parts of India following a spurt in coronavirus cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin.

Also, the 57-member prominent international Mulim grouping, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), recently accused India of “Islamophobia”.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday dismissed all such allegations and highlighted Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s regular conversations with their counterparts from the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, to stress the closeness in ties.

Responding to the criticism in Gulf nations and by the OIC, Mr. Tharoor said the backlash is not surprising.

“While I welcome the PM’s and the Foreign Minister’s attempts at damage control, it is far more important to change the domestic reality than to issue reassuring statements,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

Asked about plea by several Indians stuck in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and his request to the prime minister and the external affairs minister to expedite their evacuation, Mr. Tharoor said every nation has a responsibility towards its citizens.

He claimed that the government’s argument is that a large number of travellers from abroad would place an unsustainable degree of strain on the country’s healthcare and quarantine facilities.

“If that was true 40 days ago, it is no longer true now. We must bring our own citizens back. It is not just a matter of their rights, but of what’s right — morally, emotionally and constitutionally,” the Congress leader said.

Mr. Tharoor also demanded that in these difficult times of the pandemic, the Centre must give the State governments their dues.

It is shocking that GST dues have not been paid despite States, and the Congress calling for this for more than two months, he said.

“Give the States their own money, so they don’t have to beg for resources to combat the virus. In addition, yes, extra support will be needed for those states facing a larger COVID-19 burden,” Mr. Tharoor said.

“The ordinary people of our country also need financial help so they can help themselves. We have been calling for ₹7,500 to be put into every Jan Dhan account. This is far from happening, several weeks after we suggested it,” he said.

Asked about Kerala doing well in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and whether other states need to emulate its model, Mr. Tharoor said Kerala has been a model state in terms of its social development indicators for a long time, but the practices and systems it has built up take generations to entrench.

Kerala spends a large portion of its state resources on health care and public education, promotes literacy and women’s empowerment, and gives village-level local authorities autonomy and funds, he said.

Other states should emulate it, but it will take them a long time to reorient their current practices to get there, he added.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said the State government is committed to the welfare of labourers and has initiated a number of measures in their interest.

PTI

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked officials to ensure that Uttar Pradesh’s borders remain sealed so that people who maybe “coronavirus (COVID-19) carriers” cannot enter the State. He gave the directions at a review meeting.

“It should be ensured that the borders of the State remain sealed. There should be alertness in border areas. No one should enter the State without permission as there is a possibility that they can be coronavirus carriers,” an official release issued in Lucknow quoted Mr. Adityanath as saying.

He said the State government is committed to the welfare of labourers and has initiated a number of measures in their interest. “The government is taking steps to ensure return of labourers stuck in other States in a phased manner,” he said.

The Chief Minister reiterated that four lakh migrant labourers from Delhi and 12,000 from Haryana have returned to the State safely. He said directives have been issued to ensure that those coming to the State undergo a health check-up and are sent to home quarantine for 14 days with a ration kit.

Mr. Adityanath also gave directions to increase pool testing and procure quality testing kits. As of Thursday, the number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh stood at 2,211 and the death toll due to the infection was 40.