The Lockdown to Contain the Coronavirus Outbreak Has Disrupted Supply Chains
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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SINCE 1932 The lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted supply chains. One crucial chain is delivery of information and insight — news and analysis that is fair and accurate and reliably reported from across a nation in quarantine. A voice you can trust amid the clanging of alarm bells. Vajiram & Ravi and The Indian Express are proud to deliver the electronic version of this morning’s edition of The Indian Express to your Inbox. You may follow The Indian Express’s news and analysis through the day on indianexpress.com DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 PATNA &RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM The`20lakhcrpie MIGRANTS FARMERS STREETVENDORS MAY5TOMAY 13 Migrantswho arebeneficiaries To provide concessional credit Scheme foreasy access to Next challenge for `5.94LakhCr `3.1LakhCr of neither National Food to farmersthrough Kisan Credit credit forstreetvendors within Announced Announced Security Act, or StateCard Cards. Small and marginal amonth. With initial working Wednesday Thursday wheretheyare stationed, will farmers to be extendedfunds capital of up to Rs 10,000,gov- get5kg ofgrains each and 1kg from NABARD, state and dis- ernment plans to incentivise Odisha andBihar: chana per familyper monthfor trict cooperative banks,aswell digital repaymentsaswell as twomonths. States will implement scheme. as regional rural banks. regular repayment. Virus coming home IMPACT: About 8crmigrantswho require IMPACT: To benefit around2.5 cr big IMPACT: Around 50 lakh street vendors foodgrain assistance areexpected to benefit farmers, and nearly 3crsmall farmers likelytogain easyaccess to credit with migrants `9.74LakhCr `1.22LakhCr `3,500cr `2.36 lakhcr `5,000 cr Announcedearlier TobeAnnounced to be spent for2months to be spent in total to be spent on the scheme SANTOSHSINGH& KAUNAINSHERIFFM CASESAMONG COVID ECONOMIC PACKAGE: DAY 2 PATNA,NEWDELHI,MAY14 MIGRANTS FROM BIHAR to Odisha, TOTAL: 320 positive Telangana to Karnataka, the re- cases out of 4,275 turn of migrants,expected to samples (May4-May13) pickuppace as the lockdown Number testing positive Govtsafetynetformigrantworkersand eases, is bringing the coronavirus among Bihar migrants home, too, posing afresh chal- from: lengetostatesfighting to contain DELHI: 76 out of 365 the pandemic. samples Of the 4,275 samples col- MAHARASHTRA: 68 poorhasalittlefornow,moreforlater lected in Bihar from among mi- out of 506samples grantswho returnedonboard Shramik specialtrainsbetween GUJARAT: 88 out of Free foodgrainsto May4and May13, 320 have 1,066 samples credit forstreet tested Covidpositive—7.5 per WESTBENGAL: 11 out cent. This is wayabove theposi- of 101samples tivity rate forthe state, whichis vendors:OfRs HARYANA: 10 out of 172 justabout 2.75per cent. Bihar samples 3.10 lakhcrore, has so farconducted about 35,000 tests, of which953 are Centre’s outflow positive. The high positivity rate Bihar has among the fastestdou- Rs 5000cr amongmigrantworkers is rais- blingtimeof cases wellbelowthe ing concernsinBihar whichisa national averageof12.65 days. primarydestination statefor mi- Next door,Odisha wasone of AANCHALMAGAZINE& grant labour.And when the test- the firststatestohavereported ANILSASI ing of migrantsreturning asurge in thenumber of mi- NEWDELHI,MAY14 through six inter-state borders, grant labourers turning positive through whichabout 10,000are on arrivalwithGanjamdistrict THERE WASanexpectation that enteringeachday,isyet to begin. being the hotspotreporting as apackage aimedatmigrant Therelatively large numberof many 249cases in the 10 days workers, farmers and street ven- infectionsamong migrantsisone since May5. dors would strive to offerimme- reason whyBihar has seen its Over the same period, diaterelief giventhat theyhave caseload rise rapidlyinthe last AndhraPradesh hasatotal of 105 borne the brunt of the lockdown- fewdays.Atlessthan 8.5 days, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 related distress forover50days now. But morethan half the nine major proposals announced by Union Finance MinisterNirmala TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE Sitharaman on Thursday have a LOCKDOWN longer-term horizon. DAY CASES: RECOVERED:26,234 |DEATHS:2,549 Besides, the secondleg of the TESTS:1,947,041 | DOUBLINGRATE:12.65** relief packagecontinues with the 51 78,003 basic design of leveraging large stimulus with minimal fiscalcost —ofthe totalliquidity infusion of 4AM, THURSDAY Amigrant familyontheir wayhometoUP, outside the Mayur Vihar MetroStation in Delhi. Gajendra Yadav Rs 3.10 lakh crore,the likely out- flowfromthe Centre’s exchequer is onlyabout Rs 5,000crore. No cash in hand for migrants, Rs 3-lakh-cr relief package Thursday’s measuresfocused BUSINESSASUSUAL on the poorer segments of soci- KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG. DOUBLING ety, including migrant labour, BY UNNY govt falls back on existing for MSMEs butGovts, pvt TOWATCH CASES 24HRS GROWTH* RATE** small and marginalfarmers and ■ Maharashtra 25,922 1,495 6.43% 11.20 urbanpoor,seems skewedmore schemes: MNREGS, PDS firms owe them more ■ Gujarat 9,268 364 4.91% 14.66 towardsthe long-term. 5.10% Forinstance, the affordable lostwages over 50 days of the ■ Delhi 8,470 472 14.12 rental housing scheme under HARIKISHANSHARMA lockdown. AANCHALMAGAZINE& ■ Tamil Nadu 9,227 509 9.69% 7.43 Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana NEWDELHI,MAY14 Theone changeseems to be ANILSASI ‘(Dues) will ■ Rajasthan 4,222 201 3.93% 18.33 formigrant workers and urban the government’s offertobear NEWDELHI,MAY14 be more West Bengal 2,290 117 6.68% 10.77 poor will likelybeimplemented THE SECOND tranche of the eco- the financial burden of food- than Rs 5 ■ onlyoveralongertime frame. nomic packageannouncedby grains fortwo months to mi- THE FIRSTtranche of the Centre’s lakh crore’ *Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7days**Calculated over 7-daygrowth Similarly,the portableration the government on Thursdayre- grantswho arenot coveredei- relief packagemay have been CONCERN CAUTION AGLIMMER delivery system is scheduledto lies upon twoexisting mecha- ther under the National Food targeted at thecountry’s micro, ODISHA: 180 BIHAR: Numbers PUNJAB: Just be completedonlybyMarch nisms, the MNREGS and PDS, to Security Act(NFSA), 2013,orstate small and mediumenterprises mentstounitsinthe MSME sec- cases aweek ago still less than ten new cases next year.The credit facility for offerwagelabourand free food- government schemes. Announ- (MSMEs), but muchofthe work- tor, as on March 31,2020, was to 611, Odisha has 1000, but Wednesday, daily street vendors and the extension grains to migrant labourers re- cing the scheme, Finance ing capital-related distress faced pegged at upwards of Rs 4.95 fastest doubling doubling in less rise on adecline of the credit-linked subsidy turning from urban areas to vil- MinisterNirmala Sitharaman by these unitscan be tracedback lakh crore, according to govern- time —3.77 days than nine days for the last 3days scheme middle class (Rs 6-18 PACKAGE UNWRAPPED lages. said their number is estimatedto to one major source —the gov- ment estimates accessedbyThe lakh annual income) arealso PAGES 6, 11 However, therewas no cash be around eightcrore. ernmentmachinery. IndianExpress. Based on daily datareleased by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 relief forthe labourers,who have CONTINUEDONPAGE2 The total outstanding pay- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 IndianCouncil ofMedicalResearch and state governments Swimming Open markets &malls on odd-even dates, WORLD India in talks with nations South guidelines? Block’s allow Metro, buses: Delhi to tell Centre CORONAVIRUS MAY pushing for Taiwan at WHO dilemma Federation NEVERGOAWAY, the curbs, making wayfor agrad- WARNS W.H.O. meet, China sends reminder SOURAVROYBARMAN ual reopening of public transport, INDIA HAS agrowing takes easy NEWDELHI,MAY14 markets, restaurants and parks. FIRST COVID-19 Health Assembly(WHA) as an relationship with Later,during ameeting of the CASES DETECTED IN SHUBHAJITROY observer. Taiwan but amuch lane, forwards THE DELHI governmentisset to Delhi DisasterManagement ROHINGYA CAMPS NEWDELHI,MAY14 Four of theseseven countries largerrelationship with suggesttothe Centrethat post- Authority chaired by Lt PAGE 12 —US, Japan, Australia, New China. Committed to the US norms May17, markets,shopping com- Governor AnilBaijal, Kejriwal FOREIGN SECRETARYHarsh Zealand —are signatories to a One-China policy,New plexesand malls should be al- Mostinfavour of relaxing conveyed his government’spo- Vardhan Shringlahas partici- demarche, urging the World Delhi has high stakes in lowedtoopen—onodd-even curbs,says Kejriwal sition.Sources said the L-Gwill THE EDITORIAL PAGE pated in at leastseven group Health Organisation (WHO) to itsties with Beijing. The MIHIRVASAVDA basis fornon-essential outlets — CONTINUEDONPAGE2 phone calls with counterparts in allowTaiwantobeadmitted as pandemic crisis pres- NEWDELHI,MAY14 and public transportservices, in- the US, Australia, Japan, New an observer because itsinput entsanopportunity to cluding the Metro, buses, taxis soughtsuggestionsfromresi- MSMEsNEEDMORE Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam will be “meaningful and impor- leverage itspositionon FOUR DAYS ago, whenthe gov- and auto-rickshaws,should re- dentsoneasingrestrictions. GURGAON TO OPEN PUSHFROMGOVT since March 20 —once every tant”. Other signatories to this Taipei vis-a-vis Beijing, ernment asked theSwimming sume operations. Addressing an online