Army chief criticises those involved in violent protests over CAA; triggers criticism

Nuapada, Jun 15: In a shocking incident, a 70-year-old elderly woman had to drag her 100-year-old bedridden mother on a cot to the nearby bank to withdraw pension money of Rs 1,500.

The incident came to light after a video of the woman dragging her bedridden mother on a cot to a bank in Odisha's Nuapada district went viral on social media.

The woman from Bargaon village dragged her mother on the cot after the bank official allegedly asked for physical verification. The incident took place on June 9.

"I went to the bank several times in last three months and requested the bank official to release the pension amount. However, the official informed that they would release the pension if I bring my mother to the branch," said Punjimati Dei.

Bank manager Ajit Pradhan allegedly asked Dei to bring her bedridden mother Labhe Baghel to the bank.

Her mother is an account holder under Jan Dhan Yojana of the Central government.

The Centre had announced Rs 500 monthly assistance for women Jan Dhan bank account holders from April to June in view of the COVID-19 situation.

A district administration official informed that the woman reached the bank with her mother before the manager could visit her home for the verification.

Mar 21: India’s economy, already in the grip of a slowdown, is in for more pain after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens to stay at and work from home to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

The services sector, which accounts for about 55% of India’s gross domestic product, is poised to be the worst hit after Modi, in a late evening address on Thursday, urged citizens to go on a self-imposed curfew for a day and private companies to allow employees to work from home for longer. In the country’s vast informal sector, social-distancing measures could mean a dent to productivity and consumption because of job or pay losses.

“The impact of a partial lock-down or social distancing will be significant,” said Rahul Bajoria, a senior economist at Barclays Plc in Mumbai. “If there’s a widespread community outbreak, GDP could fall as low as 3.5% in the year starting April 1.”

Shrinking output may limit growth in an economy that’s already set to expand at an 11-year low of 5% in the current year to March 31. Before the virus outbreak, India had forecast growth to recover to 6%-6.5% in the next fiscal year. S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings have already slashed their growth forecast by 50 basis points.

“The current social-distancing measures will severely impact airlines, hotels, malls, multiplexes, restaurants and retailers,” according to analysts at Crisil Ltd., the local unit of S&P Global. “Lower footfalls and occupancies, decline in business volume and sub-optimal operating efficiencies will impact cash flows of companies in these sectors,” wrote the analysts led by Chief Economist Dharmakirti Joshi.

The government will try to announce a relief package for virus-affected sectors as early as possible, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday.

In a televised address, Modi advised all citizens to stay at home for a day on March 22, as he sought to stem the spread of the coronavirus -- cases of which are relatively low in India at about 200, compared with more than 200,000 infected people globally. His government also barred incoming flights for a week from that day, joining a growing list of countries effectively sealing their borders.

What Bloomberg’s Economists Say

We had only earlier this week lowered our GDP outlook to consider the direct impact of the local outbreak as confirmed virus cases exceeded 100 as of March 15 and the federal and state governments announced social distancing measures that have already started to crimp economic activity. We are now revising down our GDP estimate for 4Q fiscal 2020 to 3.3%, from our 3.5%.

-- Abhishek Gupta, India economist

For more, click here

“Consumption being the biggest component of GDP, a lock-down is bound to have a big impact on the economy,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings and Research, the local unit of Fitch. “Modeling uncertainty in any system will be very difficult, but one can say the slowdown could deepen or prolong further.”

Work From Home

While companies, including billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd., are asking employees to work from home, the option isn’t feasible in India’s vast informal sector.

“The option to work remotely simply won’t exist for most,” said Shilan Shah, an economist with Capital Economics Pte. in Singapore.

As many households don’t have savings buffers, the government would probably have to back this up with large-scale cash handouts that reach the poorest, he said.

Work from home is posing implementation challenges for the manufacturing sector where workers are required to be physically present at the production sites. The services sector, such as banking and information technology, also needs employees to be present in offices as confidential data is used, according to industry group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

New Delhi, Jul 5: World's largest, 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital (SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area of the national capital has made operational on Sunday.

Inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, the facility has been created on an emergency basis by the South Delhi District Administration with support of the Ministry of Home Affairs in a record time of 10 days.
Notably, this coronavirus treatment centre which is set up in Chhatarpur area of the national capital is said to be the "largest" of its kind in the world.
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"The Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital has been developed to help the citizens of Delhi and NCR who are affected by the coronavirus. Our team of doctors and medical staffs will take care of this facility. Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital will have 10 per cent of beds with oxygen facility," the Delhi LG said after the inaugural.
Talking about the facilities at the new coronavirus centre, Baijal further stated, "We have counsellors for mentally traumatised patients. We have a team of good psychiatrists and specialists in medicine."

The facility will function as an isolation centre for mild and asymptomatic COVID positive patients. 10 per cent of the beds will have oxygen facility in case the patient develops severe breathlessness and requires tertiary hospital care, read a statement.

Operationally, the facility has been linked to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. The referral tertiary care hospitals are Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

ITBP will be running the first 2,000 beds with their 170 doctors/specialists and more than 700 nurses and paramedics, the statement added.
Most of the basic infrastructure such as beds, mattresses and linen has been donated by various civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. 

A recreational centre has been made available to the patients along with a library, board games and skipping ropes. People admitted to the facility will be provided five healthy meals a day along with immunity-boosting chawanprash, juices and hot kadha, the statement added.