10,000 homeless after fire razes Bangladesh slum

Beijing, Feb 6: The number of confirmed fatalities from China's coronavirus outbreak rose to at least 560, after authorities in hardest-hit Hubei province reported 70 new deaths on February 6.

In its daily update, the health commission in Hubei also confirmed the number of confirmed infections in the outbreak has reached 28,018 nationwide with 3,694 new cases reported.

The epidemic, which has spiralled into a global health emergency, is believed to have emerged in December from a market that sold wild game in Hubei's capital Wuhan.

Hu Lishan, an official in Wuhan, warned Wednesday that despite building a hospital from scratch and converting public buildings to accommodate thousands of extra patients, there was still a "severe" lack of beds in the region.

There was also a shortage of "equipment and materials," he told reporters, adding that officials were looking to convert other hotels and schools in the city into treatment centres.

Authorities in several other cities in China have placed restrictions on the number of people allowed to leave their homes.

Global concerns have also risen about the virus, with cases confirmed in more than 20 countries.

Washington, May 8: Four top Republican senators have urged US President Donald Trump to suspend all-new guest worker visas for 60 days and some of its categories, including the H-1B visa, for at least the next year or until unemployment figures return to normal levels in the country.

The unemployment figures in the US have reached an all-time high due to the coronavirus pandemic. The letter has been signed by Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Chuck Grassley and Josh Hawley.

"As you know, more than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment coverage just since mid-March, and approximately one-fifth of the American workforce is currently out of work. This is a stunning difference compared with the historically-low nationwide unemployment rate of just 3.5 per cent in February this year," they said in their letter to the president on Thursday.

The letter, dated May 7, specifically calls for suspension of all non-immigrant guest worker visas for the next 60 days, followed by a continued suspension of certain categories of new non-immigrant guest worker visas for a year or until the national unemployment figures return to normal levels.

"To protect unemployed Americans in the early stages of economic recovery, we urge you to suspend all non-immigrant guest worker visas for the next 60 days," the senators said.

Exceptions to this suspension should be rare, limited to time-sensitive industries such as agriculture and issued only on a case-by-case basis, when the employers can demonstrate that they have been unable to find Americans to take the jobs, the senators wrote.

After 60 days, the senators urged Trump to continue to suspend new non-immigrant guest workers for a year or until the national unemployment figures return to normal levels, whichever comes first.

"That suspension should, at a minimum, include H-2B visas (non-agricultural seasonal workers), H-1B visas (specialty occupation workers) and the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program (extension of foreign student visas after graduation). We also urge you to suspend the EB-5 immigrant visa program, effective immediately," the lawmakers wrote.

The H-1B work visa for foreign technology professionals is highly popular among Indians and a large number of Indians also opt for the EB-5 investors visa.

The senators argued that there is no reason why unemployed Americans and recent college graduates should have to compete in such a limited job market against an influx of additional H-1B workers, most of whom work in business, technology or STEM fields.

"Temporarily suspending the issuance of new H-1B visas would also protect the hundreds of thousands of H-1B workers and their families already working in the United States -- workers who could otherwise be subject to deportation if they are laid off for more than 60 days," they said.

"Of course, appropriate exceptions could also be crafted to the H-1B program suspension to allow for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who wish to come to the United States to assist in combating the coronavirus pandemic," the senators wrote.

Additionally, the United States ought to suspend its Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, which allows foreign students in the country to extend their stay after graduation for one to three years to get "experience in the field" by taking jobs here, they wrote.

In 2019, more than 223,000 former foreign students had their OPT applications approved or extended. While the merits of such a programme are subject to debate, there is certainly no reason to allow foreign students to stay for three additional years just to take jobs that would otherwise go to unemployed Americans as the country's economy recovers, the lawmakers said.

The senators also urged Trump to remove the EB-5 visa from the exemptions in his Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, at least until real reforms are adopted.

The EB-5 programme has long been plagued by scandal and fraud, and criticised as effectively functioning as a pay-for-citizenship scheme in many cases. There is no reason that the programme should receive preferential treatment as opposed to other green card programmes for employment-based immigrants, the lawmakers said.

When it comes to the economy, dark days do loom large over India. May it be growth (lowest since 2008), inflation (highest in the last six years), or revenue collection (lowest in 10 years), the Indian economy is faltering. Hence, there is little leeway that can be assumed in the incumbent Union Budget 2020 (the first of the decade) if the economy needs to be boosted.

While presenting the decade's first Budget for India, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday in Parliament:

Taxation

•             AADHAR based tax verification introduced

•             Review of customs duty exemptions in September 2020

•             GST refund process simplified

•             Electronic invoice implementation in phases

•             New digital scheme for tax litigation

•             PAN to be instantly allotted online against Aadhar

•             Vivaad se Vishwas Scheme: Defaulter to pay only disputed tax and no penalty or interest by 31 March 2020, post which additional amount can be paid till June 2020

•             Measure to promote affordable housing - tax holiday extended for developers

•             Concession on real estate transactions

•             Turnover threshold for audit raised to Rs 5 crore from 1 crore

•             Company audit requirements eased

•             Taxes on ESOPs (employee stock ownership) in start-ups deferred by 5 years

•             100% per cent tax exemption

•             Corporate Tax at 15%

•             Dividend Distribution Tax removed, dividend taxed only for recipients

•             No tax for 0-5 lakh

•             30% above 15 lakh

•             25% for income between Rs 12.5-15 lakh

•             20% for income between Rs 10-12.5 lakh

•             15% for income between Rs 7.5-10 lakh

•             10% for income between Rs 5-7.5 lakh, against the prevailing 20%

•             A new, optional simplified personal income tax regime for those not seeking exemptions

Major steps and initiatives taken by the government in finance

•             3.8 percent fiscal deficit estimated

•             GDP nominal growth expected at 10 per cent

•             Govt to sell part of holding LIC via IPO (initial public offering)- partial LIC disinvestment

•             Partial credit guarantee for NBFCs

•             New law for netting of financial contracts

•             Mechanism to end liquidity crisis

•             NRIs (non resident Indians) can invest in certain govt securities

Aspirational India: Caring society

•             App-based invoice financing loans for MSMEs

•             Amendment to Factoring Regulation Act to aid MSMEs

•             Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDI) Act amendments

•             No criminal liabilities for civil acts

•             Auto-enrolment in universal pension scheme

•             5958 cr allocated for Ladakh

•             30757 cr allocated for J&K

•             Insurance for depositors raised to 5 lakh from 1 lakh

•             Robust mechanisms in place to monitor all PSU banks

•             Depositors’ money safe

•             100 cr for hosting G20 in 2022

•             National Recruitment Agency to be set up

•             Tax payers’ charter to be enshrined in statutes

•             Amendments for Companies Act

•             Tax payer charter proposed to free citizens from tax harassment

•             Businesses should have confidence that system is fair

•             4400 crore allocation for clean air and climate change policy

•             Aim to reduce carbon footprint - Warning to old thermal plants

•             Committed to preserve environment, tackle climate change

•             23150 crore for culture ministry

•             2500 crore for tourism sector

•             Institute of Heritage and Conservation to come up soon

•             Aim to set up more museums

•             5 archaeological sites to be made iconic

•             Proposal to end manual scavenging

•             53700 crore for welfare of STs

•             85000 crore for SCs and OBCs for 2021

•             35600 crore for nutritional schemes

•             Gross enrollment ratio of girls higher than boys in elementary level

•             Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao - tremendous results

Aspirational India: Infrastructure and economic development

•             Further reforms for transparent price discovery for natural gas

•             22000 crore for power sector

•             8000 crore for quantum technology in next 6 years

•             Two national level science schemes

•             Expand Jan Aushadhi Scheme

•             1 lakh gram panchayats to be connected via Bharat Net

•             6000 crore for Bharat Net

•             Data Centre parks to be set up across the country

•             National Gas Grid to be expanded

•             Reforms to help stressed DISCOMS (distribution companies)

•             Delhi-Mumbai Expressway by 2023

•             100 more airports by 2024

•             Plans to energise economic activity along river banks

•             Need to enhance sea ports

•             High Speed Mumbai-Ahmedabad train

•             More Tejas-type trains

•             4 station redevelopment projects under PP model

•             2000 km of strategic highways to be built, 11000 km of track electrification

•             Accelerated development of highways

•             National Logistics Policy to be released soon

•             Big push on infrastructure - 100 lakh crore

•             National Technical Textiles Mission to be set up

•             1480 crore outlay for textile sector

•             27300 crore for industrial development by 2021

•             Digital refund of duties for exporters

•             Boost domestic manufacturing - electronic equipment, mobile phone, medical devices

•             5 new smart cities in collaboration with states

•             Investment clearance cell to be set up for end to end facilitation

•             Entrepreneurship has been the strength of India

Aspirational India: Education and skills

•             High need for medical teachers and paramedics

•             Internships for engineers in panchayats

•             Rs 99300 cr for education sector

•             Large hospitals to be encouraged to start PG courses

•             Attach medical colleges to district hospitals

•             National police university to be set up

•             IND-SAT programme for overseas students for studying in India

•             New courses in 159 universities by 2026

•             Focus on education for jobs

•             Propose a fresh education policy

•             Urban local bodies should give opportunities to new engineers

•             Education needs more finances

Aspirational India: Healthcare

•             AI (artificial intelligence) to be used for Ayushman Bharat Scheme

•             69000 crore for health sector

•             Propose to set up more hospitals

•             Holistic vision for national healthcare

Aspirational India: Agriculture, Irrigation and rural development

•             Need to liberalise farm markets

•             108 million metric tonne milk production by 2021

•             2.83 lakh cr allocation for agriculture and irrigation

•             Propose raising fish production to 200 lakh tonne

•             Zero budget national farming

•             NABARD refinance scheme to be expanded

•             Village credit card scheme

•             Agriculture credit target for 2020 set at Rs 15 lakh crore

•             Village storage scheme for farmers, zero budget natural farming

•             Dhanya Lakshmi scheme for women in villages

•             Krishi Udaan by civil aviation ministry for air transport of such commodities over longer distances

•             Indian railways to set up 'kisan rail'

•             Govt to provide help to geo-tag warehouses

•             Financial inclusion has helped raise farm incomes

•             Plan for 100 water stressed districts

•             Scheme for 20 lakh farmers to set up solar pumps

•             Doubling farm income - model agricultural land leasing act, balanced use of fertilisers, solar pumps for 20 lakh farmers

Budget 2020 and its three focuses

•             Budget's first focus is 'Aspirational India'. Second focus: economic development for all. Third focus: building a caring society.

•             FDI at 284 billion dollars, achieved 7.84% growth

•             GST formalised the economy

•             Efficiency gained in logistics

•             16 lakh new tax payers added

•             Fundamentals of economy hold strong

•             Scaled up implementation of pro-poor schemes

Key challenges FM faces

•             India needs to grow by 9 per cent to 10 per cent a year to become the $5 trillion economy by 2024, as projected by the government. The government is now forecasting growth will come in at 5 per cent

•             The IMF, which had originally predicted 6.1 per cent growth for India in 2019, has revised that downwards to 4.8 per cent

•             The government’s likely to miss its fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year of 3.3 per cent and hike its target to as much as 4 per cent for the next financial year

•             India will struggle to achieve 5 per cent GDP growth in 2020 - Economist Steve Hanke, Johns Hopkins University

•             Investment is forecast to grow at less than 1 per cent -- the lowest since 2004-05

•             India's unemployment rate rose to 7.5 per cent during September-December 2019 quarter, according to data released by think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy