Mumbai, Mar 27: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday lowered the key repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent in a bid to arrest the economic slowdown amid coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The reverse repo rate now stands at 4 per cent, down by 90 basis points, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das adding this has been done to make it unattractive for banks to passively deposit funds with the central bank and instead lend it to the productive sectors.
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) met on March 24, 25 and 27 and voted 4:2 in favour of the repo rate reduction. The MPC also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy while ensuring that inflation remains within the target.
"The need of the hour is to shield the economy from the pandemic," said Das. "We need to mitigate the impact of coronavirus, revive economic growth and provide financial stability."
Repo rate is the rate at which a country's central bank lends money to commercial banks, and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them.
The RBI Governor further said that the economic growth and inflation projection will be highly contingent depending on the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic.
"Global economic activity has come to a near standstill as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swathe of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020 from 2019's decade low in global growth have been dashed," said Das.
"The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the global economy will slip into recession," he said.
However, the RBI has injected liquidity of Rs 2.8 lakh crore via various instruments equal to 1.4 per cent of GDP. "Along with today's measures, liquidity measures equal to 3.2 per cent of GDP. The RBI will take continuous measures to ensure liquidity in the system."
The RBI governor has said that all banking institutions can offer a three-month moratorium on all loans for a period of three months. The RBI has also allowed banks to restructure the working capital cycle for companies without worrying that these will have to be classified as a non-performing asset (NPA).
The three-month moratorium will permit banks to avoid a large onset of NPAs during the 21-day lockdown and keep their books healthy.
Das said banks and other financial institutions should do all they can to keep credit flowing to economic agents facing financial stress on account of the isolation that the virus has imposed.
"Market participants should work with regulators like the RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to ensure the orderly functioning of markets in their role of price discovery and financial intermediation," he said.
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RBI reduces repo rate by 75 basis points to battle COVID-19 impact
News Network
March 27, 2020
BJP govt in Karnataka treating migrants worse than bonded labourers: Yechury
News Network
May 7,2020
May 7: Accusing the BJP government in Karnataka of "medieval barbarism" and treating migrants as worse than "bonded labourers", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday hit out at the state's decision to stop workers from returning to their homes in different parts of the country citing requirements of the construction sector.
The Karnataka government has withdrawn its request to the railways to run special trains to ferry migrant labourers to their home states, hours after builders met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to apprise him of the problems the construction sector will face in case they left.
"This is worse than treating them as bonded labour. Does the Indian constitution exist? Are there any laws in the country? This BJP state government is throwing us back to medieval barbarism. This will be stoutly resisted,” Yechury said in a tweet.
The railways is running Shramik Special trains to ferry to their home towns migrants who were stranded at their places of work during the lockdown.
So far, it has run more than 115 such trains.
The Principal Secretary in the Revenue Department N Manjunatha Prasad, who is the nodal officer for migrants, had requested the South Western Railways on Tuesday to run two train services a day for five days except Wednesday, while the state government wanted services thrice a day to Danapur in Bihar. However, later, Prasad wrote another letter within a few hours that the special trains were not required. Several migrants in the city were desperate to return home as they were out of jobs and money.
Yechury also lashed out at the central government over reports that it owed states and industry Rs 3 trillion and accused the centre of shifting the burden of fighting the pandemic to the state governments.
“While shifting the entire burden of fighting the pandemic on to the State governments, Modi government is not even paying their legitimate dues. After November 2019, Centre has not paid the GST compensation dues for the rest of the financial year, i.e., March 2020.
“Modi government has the right to loot while crores of people & States are left with nothing but the right to starve?,” he tweeted.
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Mallikarjun Kharge, his son receive threat calls ahead of RS polls
News Network
June 10,2020
Bengaluru, Jun 10: Congress' Rajya Sabha candidate from Karnataka and senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge and his son received threat calls on Sunday, with the latter filing a complaint with the state police chief. Kharge, a former Union Minister, received the call in the wee hours of Sunday on his landline while his son Priyank later got a call from a private number on his mobile phone.
Priyank lodged a complaint with the Director-General of Police Praveen Sood and former MLC Ramesh Babu shared the copy of the complaint on Twitter on Tuesday. In his complaint, Priyank Kharge stated that at about 1.30 am on Sunday, his father received a call on the landline where the caller spoke in Hindi and English and used invective against the Congress veteran.
The caller, according to the complaint, spoke about the Rajya Sabha election and threatened Kharge. Police are looking into the matter. Kharge is the Congress' pick for the June 19 Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka. JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and two BJP candidates have also filed nominations for the election to the upper House.
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Chronology of events in Nirbhaya case
Agencies
February 5,2020
New Delhi, Feb 5: Following is the chronology of events in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case in which the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said the all the four convicts have to be hanged together, not separately.
- Dec 16, 2012: Paramedical student gang-raped and brutally assaulted by six men in a private bus and thrown out of the moving vehicle along with her male friend. The victims admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.
- Dec 17: Widespread protests erupt demanding stringent action.
- Police identify the accused - bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh Kumar, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta.
- Dec 18: Ram Singh and three others arrested.
- Dec 20: Victim's friend testifies.
- Dec 21: A delinquent juvenile nabbed from Anand Vihar bus terminal in Delhi. Victim's friend identifies Mukesh as one of the culprits. Police conduct raids in Haryana and Bihar to nab the sixth accused, Akshay Kumar.
- Dec 21-22: Akshay arrested in Aurangabad district of Bihar and brought to Delhi. Victim records statement before the SDM in hospital.
- Dec 26: Following a cardiac arrest, victim flown to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital by the government.
- Dec 29: Victim succumbs to injuries and other medical conditions. Police add murder charge in the FIR.
- Jan 2, 2013: The then Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir inaugurates fast track court (FTC) for speedy trial in sexual offence cases.
- Jan 3: Police file charge sheet against five adults accused of murder, gang-rape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences and dacoity.
- Jan 17: FTC starts proceedings against the five adult accused.
- Jan 28: Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) says minority of the juvenile accused is proved.
- Feb 2: FTC frames charges against five adult accused.
- Feb 28: JJB frames charges against the minor.
- Mar 11: Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar Jail.
- Jul 8: FTC completes recording of testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
- Jul 11: Delhi High Court allows three international news agencies to cover the trial in the case.
- Aug 22: FTC begins hearing final arguments in trial against four adult accused.
- Aug 31: JJB convicts the minor for gang-rape and murder and awards three-year term at probation home.
- Sep 3: FTC concludes trial. Reserves verdict.
- Sep 10: Court convicts Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan of 13 offences including gang-rape, unnatural offence and murder of the girl and attempt to murder her male friend.
- Sep 13: Court awards death penalty to all 4 convicts.
- Sep 23: HC begins hearing the convicts' death sentence reference sent to it by the trial court.
- Jan 3, 2014: HC reserves verdict on convicts' appeals.
- Mar 13: HC upholds death penalty to the 4 convicts.
- Mar 15: SC stays execution of 2 convicts, Mukesh and Pawan, after they file appeals. Later, stays execution of other convicts also.
- Apr 15: SC directs police to produce the dying declaration of the victim.
- Feb 3, 2017: SC says it would hear afresh the aspect of awarding death penalty to the convicts.
- Mar 27: SC reserves verdict on their appeals.
- May 5: SC upholds death penalty to four convicts, says the case falls under the category of 'rarest of rare' and the offence created "tsunami of shock".
- Nov 8: Mukesh, one of the four death row convicts in the case, moves SC seeking review of its verdict upholding the capital punishment awarded to him.
- Dec 12: Delhi Police opposes Mukesh's plea in SC.
- Dec 15: Convicts Vinay Sharma and Pawan Kumar Gupta move SC for review of its verdict.
- May 4, 2018: SC reserves order on review plea of Vinay and Pawan.
- Jul 9: SC dismisses review pleas of three convicts.
- Feb, 2019: Victim's parents move Delhi court for issuance of death warrants of the four convicts
- Dec 10, 2019: Akshay moves plea in SC seeking review of his death penalty.
- Dec 13: Victim's mother moves SC opposing review plea of convict
- Dec 18: SC dismisses Akshay's review plea.
- Delhi govt seeks death warrants for execution of death sentence to the 4 convicts
- Delhi court directs Tihar authorities to issue notice to convicts to avail their remaining legal remedies.
- Dec 19: Delhi HC dismisses plea of Pawan Kumar Gupta claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the offence.
- Jan 6, 2020: Delhi court dismisses complaint filed by Pawan's father seeking FIR against sole witness
- Jan 7: Delhi court orders 4 convicts to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail.
- Jan 14: SC rejects curative petition of Vinay and Mukesh Kumar.
Mukesh files mercy petition before President
- Jan 17: President Ram Nath Kovind rejects mercy plea of Mukesh.
- Trial court issues death warrants again with execution date as February 1, 6 am.
- Jan 25: Mukesh moves SC against rejection of mercy plea.
- Jan 28: SC hears arguments, reserves verdict
- Jan 29: Convict Akshya Kumar approaches SC with curative petition
- SC rejects plea of Mukesh challenging rejection of his mercy plea.
- Jan 30: SC dismisses curative plea of Akshay Kumar Singh.
- Jan 31: SC dismisses plea filed by Pawan seeking review of its order rejecting his juvenility claim.
- Delhi court again postpones execution of the black warrants till further order.
- Feb 1: Centre moves HC against the trial court order.
- Feb 2: HC reserves judgement on Centre's plea.
- Feb 5: HC dismisses Centre plea against trial court order; says all 4 convicts have to be hanged together. It directs the convicts to pursue all legal remedies within a week, failing which the authorities ordered to take action in accordance with law.
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