Indian Rupee settles 70 paise lower at 75.59 against US dollar
NEW DELHI: The rupee settled 70 paise lower at 75.59 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday amid rise in coronavirus cases in the country and weak domestic equities. Forex traders said heavy selling in domestic equities dragged the local unit amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown. Moreover, strengthening of the American currency […]
German state Finance Minister kills himself as coronavirus hits economy
FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday. Thomas Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said […]
Coronavirus impact: DGCA extends ban on international flights till April 14
NEW DELHI: All international commercial passenger flights will remain suspended till April 14, aviation regulator DGCA announced on Thursday, amid a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 19 had announced that no international commercial passenger flight operations will take place in India […]
Coronavirus impact: Moody’s cuts India’s growth forecast to 2.5% from 5.3%
NEW DELHI: Moody’s Investors Service on Friday slashed its estimate of India’s GDP growth during 2020 calendar year to 2.5 per cent from an earlier estimate of 5.3 per cent, on account of the rising economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic. This compares to 5 per cent growth in 2019. Moody’s said, at the 2020 […]
Singapore’s sex industry shuts due to coronavirus
SINGAPORE: Shortly after midnight on Friday, a young Asian sex worker dressed in a baggy cotton dress and slippers stepped out of a brothel in Singapore’s deserted red light district and rolled a wheelie bin to the side of the street. Two hours earlier, Singapore’s vibrant Geylang neighborhood was having a more typical night – […]
EMIs put on hold, big-bang interest rate cut as RBI joins fight against coronavirus
NEW DELHI: The RBI on Friday put on hold EMI payments on all term loans for three months and cut interest rate by steepest in more than 11 years as it joined the government effort to rescue a slowing economy that has now got caught in coronavirus whirlwind. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut […]
Coronavirus: India unveils Rs 1.70-lakh crore package for poor, farmers
NEW DELHI: India’s Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Niramla Sitharaman today announced Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus. While addressing the press conference here today, Sitharaman said “Today’s measures are intended at reaching out to the poorest […]
Coronavirus: As rest of world reels under lockdown but China restarts factories and flights
NEW DELHI: While much of the world’s output is grinding to a halt because of the coronavirus, China is slowly emerging from its shutdowns by restarting production at factories and resuming some flights. A recovery in the world’s second-largest economy provides some relief for global manufacturers in the months ahead as the outbreak continues to […]
Finance Minister balm for senior citizens, small companies
NEW DELHI: India’s Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the last date for filing of income tax returns for FY2018-19 has been extended to June 30 to provide relief to citizens unable to meet deadlines due to coronavirus outbreak. Also, interest rate on delayed payment has been cut to 9 per cent from 12 […]
India announces 21-day nationwide lockdown, says this is only way to fight coronavirus
NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a complete lockdown across the country for 21 days from Tuesday midnight, asserting that social distancing is the only way out for the country in its decisive battle against the coronavirus. In his second address to the nation on the pandemic raging across much of the world […]
30 states and Union Territories in complete lockdown over coronavirus outbreak
NEW DELHI: A total of 30 states and Union Territories (UTs) have imposed complete lockdown, covering a total of 548 districts in the country, to check the spread of coronavirus, the government said on Monday. Six other states have put in place similar restrictions in some areas in the wake of the outbreak. There are […]
Gujarat put under lockdown till March 31 to stem spread of coronavirus
NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government has decided to put the entire state under lockdown from Monday midnight as part of measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus in the state. The lockdown, starting from Monday midnight, will remain in force till March 31, said DGP Shivanand Jha in Gandhinagar. “Police will implement the […]
Lockdowns not enough to defeat coronavirus: WHO
LONDON: Countries can’t simply lock down their societies to defeat coronavirus, the (WHO) World Health Organization’s top emergency expert said on Sunday, adding that there need to be public health measures to avoid a resurgence of the virus later on. “What we really need to focus on is finding those who are sick, those who […]
Modicare launches sanitation products to curb coronavirus
NEW DELHI: With the COVID-19 outbreak in India, FMCG brand Modicare has has launched a complete range of products that offer personal hygiene and protection against the outbreak of this virus. There is an utmost shortage of basic sanitation products like hand sanitizer, respiratory masks and etc. Whereas Modicare, with its penetrated consultant network and […]
Scientists in Israel likely to announce it developed coronavirus vaccine: Report
NEW DELHI: Scientists in Israel are expected to announce in the coming days that they have completed development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus COVID-19, according to a media report here. Israeli daily Ha’aretz, quoting medical sources, reported on Thursday that scientists at the Israel’s Institute for Biological Research, supervised by the Prime Minister’s […]
Coronavirus may be the ‘Disease X’ WHO cautioned about years ago
NEW DELHI: The World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned years ago that a mysterious “disease X” could spark an international contagion. The new coronavirus, with its ability to quickly morph from mild to deadly, is emerging as a contender. From recent reports about the stealthy ways the so-called Covid-19 virus spreads and maims, a picture is […]