There can be only one issue on everyone’s minds — coronavirus. The morning papers attack it with gusto and from many angles but the lead story is the ban on all passengers, including Indians, travelling from EU, Turkey and UK.
The coronavirus also plays its part in the ‘reprieve’ (as The Tribune calls it) for the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.
The financial dailies focus on the slew of measures announced by the RBI in the wake of the pandemic.
The flap page of TOI explains how ‘India enters critical phase in fight against Covid-19.’ The paper notes that with the total number of confirmed cases crossing 100, “we seem to have entered the most crucial phase in the spread of the virus. Analysis of week-wise data of confirmed cases in other countries that are struggling to contain this outbreak shows that confirmed cases spike after the number crosses 100.”
The main story on travel displays a deft, light touch in the headline: “Corantine: Even Indians from EU, Turkey, UK barred entry” as of 18 March — that’s tomorrow. The report adds that there would also be a 14-day isolation period for people coming from UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait.
An important development in the coronavirus story is ‘Accredited private labs to be allowed to test for Covid-19’. These would mean an additional 50-60 private labs will help with testing facilities so far restricted to government labs.
A small but revealing item on former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Kovind — ‘Ex-CJI Gogoi nominated as RS member’ notes that this comes just four months after his retirement and raises questions about independence of the judiciary.
The issue of coronavirus testing is approached here from another angle in, `Why ICMR will not expand test: Not rational given India size’. The Indian Council for Medical Research “has decided to monitor community transmission by random sampling rather than expanding testing”. The small but important report on page 1 says that the decision was taken to “avoid ‘futile testing’ as well as hospitalisation”.
What Express thinks of the Gogoi episode is given away in its headline: ‘Ex-CJI Gogoi’s post-retirement benefit…’ former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the government. The report notes that “he headed benches that heard “important and sensitive cases” such as Ayodhya, Assam NRC and Sabarimala.
To hammer home the point, another report, `Has last bastion fallen, asks Justice Lokur’ quotes Gogoi’s former colleague Justice (retired) Madan B. Lokur, who said that the move “redefines the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary” and questioned if the “last bastion” had fallen.
Kamal Nath’s government got a little bit of breather as the Assembly Speaker defied Governor Lalji Tandon’s directive and did not hold a floor test “citing the coronavirus scare”. The report, a straightforward one, elucidates that this prompted BJP to “turn to the Supreme Court” and “parade 106 of its MLAs before Tandon”.
HT’s flap leads with the Modi government asking the Supreme Court to “Allow telcos to pay dues over 20 years.” According to the department of telecommunications, “The move was meant to protect consumers as well as impact the country’s economy.”
The coronavirus story to read here is `Fears high, but testing low’. With a dramatic flourish it says medical experts believe, `India needs to urgently and dramatically widen the pool of patients getting tested… allow voluntary testing and rope in the private sector..’’
The lead story in The Hindu is also about travel from EU and UK being banned as “India tightens preventive steps.” The paper reports, “The Union Health Ministry update on COVID-19 cases reported four new cases, taking the tally to 114 confirmed cases, including 13 discharges and two deaths, and 5,200 contacts, who are under surveillance.”
The Hindu is ahead of the other newspapers with the very latest on the Madhya Pradesh government’s crisis in, ‘Nath rules out floor test after meeting Governor’. It reports that the chief minister met Governor Lalji Tandon late Monday night and ruled out a floor test, “claiming that his government enjoyed a majority”.
The New Indian Express leads with the Reserve Bank of India raising an alarm over the outbreak’s impact on the economy — `Coronavirus could dent economy’ admits RBI. “The central bank at a hurriedly called press conference warned that Covid-19 could poke on our sore spot, which is the slowing economy, and throw everyone further off balance,” the report says. The RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has, however, “refused to quantify the actual impact on India”.
And Tamil Nadu is the latest state to be in “a state of complete lockdown with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami ordering the closure of major places of public gatherings”. The report notes below that “the lone patient who tested positive for the virus in the state was expected to be discharged from Rajiv Gandhi Government GH”.
Mumbai Mirror’s lead story is on ‘Sportsmen back from Dubai escape from quarantine facility’. It reports, “The Navi Mumbai police and top Panvel Municipal Corporation officers spent a tense few hours on Sunday tracking eleven men who left a Kharghar facility where they were quarantined after returning from a sports event in Dubai. All the eleven men eventually returned to the Kharghar facility after being told they posed a grave danger to their families and neighbours.”
What also made news was that a 3 year-old girl and her mother were among the new cases at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai.
The Tribune notes the latest political developments in Madhya Pradesh rather acerbically— ‘Covid reprieve for Nath govt’. The government “may have won some respite in the Assembly today but will it withstand the might of the BJP’s well-oiled behemoth, which also displayed its strength in Gujarat when it spooked Congress’ plans for the Rajya Sabha..” the report said referring to Congress MLAs who quit ahead of Rajya Sabha elections.
The anchor piece is a shocking report of how a Class 10 student was “allegedly abducted and gangraped by five at a village in Mewat while she was on her way home after appearing in an exam”. “She was lured to a secluded place by two of the accused, who sought her help, claiming that their minor sister was in pain due to menstrual cramps,” the report notes.
The Economic Times lead headline wins today’s prize for insensitivity: ‘Bull Slips Back into Coma’ is hardly appropriate given the coronavirus casualties. “In the first such move since the 2008 global financial crisis, the US central bank on Sunday cut interest rates to near zero and said it would buy $700 billion in government debt,” the report says.
The Reserve Bank of India “unveiled more liquidity measures to ensure smooth functioning of the financial markets that have been roiled by the Covid-19 outbreak”, according to another report. “The MPC (monetary policy committee) is to announce the results of its next review on April 3, but it can meet ahead of schedule too. A rate cut is widely expected on or before then,” the report notes.
Mint goes one step further than ET and warns that ‘Virus-driven Recession” is looming large. The story focuses on the measures announced by the RBI “to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange and domestic markets” in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct long-term repo operations (LTRO) worth up to ₹1 trillion at the current policy rate and do another forex swap on 23 March to provide dollar liquidity to the market,” the report notes but says that the “steps fell short of investors’ expectations”.
In more positive news, there might finally be a “flicker of hope” for the struggling telecom companies as the “government on Monday sought the Supreme Court’s permission to allow telecom operators to pay their licence and spectrum usage fee dues over an extended 20-year period“.
Read the interesting anchor story about the “probe report on the suicide of Café Coffee Day (CCD) founder V.G. Siddhartha” which is likely to reveal a “missing trail of at least $350 million (₹2,593 crore)”.
Business Standard also remarks that the markets are “on crash course”. “The Nifty 50 index plunged 646 points, or 7 per cent, to close at 9,309. The Sensex dropped 2,713 points, or 8 per cent, to end at 31,390,” the report notes.
There’s also a report about the government’s making norms for corporate social responsibility “more stringent”. “In new draft rules, greater onus has been put on companies reporting details of their CSR activities and how much funds are used,” the report highlights.