India’s massive evacuation plan to bring home about 2,50,000 nationals from across the globe is impressive and the newspapers this morning are impressed.
On the financial front, the big story is about cash-strapped states desperately looking to boost revenues by raising fuel tax and liquor cess.
And did you know the banks have parked a record Rs.8.42 trillion with RBI which could threaten the central bank’s balance sheet?
In bad news for the public The Times Of India’s lead story is on the diesel price hike ‘up ₹7, steepest ever as Delhi govt hikes VAT’. The paper reports this is the “steepest-ever hike in the pump price of any automotive fuel in the country, as the AAP government nearly doubled VAT to 16.75%…” Petrol too is costlier by Rs 1.7 per litre as VAT was increased to 30%. “At Rs 69.4 per litre, Delhi now has the costliest diesel in the country”, writes TOI.
There are more burdens to bear for the public as ‘1 in 4 employed lost jobs across India in March-April: CMIE’.
India’s unemployment rate shot up to 23.5 per cent in April. Among large states, unemployment was highest in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and Bihar at nearly 50 per cent. It was lowest in Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, says the paper.
On the medical front, ‘Covid deaths soar by 199; Centre adds 72 from WB’. According to TOI, deaths hit triple digits in a day for the first time “taking the toll to 1,688”. New cases remained high at 2,801 in the last 24 hours, the second-highest so far after Monday’s spike.
The Indian Express leads with news on the single-highest surge of coronavirus cases in India so far of 3,875 and 194 deaths. The grim news is juxtaposed with a picture of a smiling woman and her husband holding their newborn twins, who were born aboard a special train from Punjab to Jharkhand.
In some shocking news, the Covid pandemic has “adversely affected people’s access to medical care” and even hindered Ayushman Bharat’s “ability to cater to critical patients below the poverty line”. The paper’s second lead,`Admissions under critical care…’ cites National Health Authority (NHA) data for February-April that found cancer-related procedures have dropped a staggering 57 per cent, cardiology by 76 per cent and obstetrics and gynaecology by 26 per cent.
And are we flattening the curve or is it inching up? Under a convoluted headline, `May 1 marks the beginning of early trend of reversal in dipping Covid growth rate’, Express finds that the growth rate of Covid-19 cases had started to dip from 8 April but the downward trend was reversed on 1 May. Since 3 May, the curve has started to pick up, it adds.
The paper’s heartwarming anchor story ‘In Srinagar, a plan for every pregnant woman, with a gift pack’ notes a woman team of anganwadi workers in Srinagar “who have been reaching out to pregnant women amidst the nationwide lockdown”. The team, which works under the Integrated Child Development Services (IDS), has 1,700 women on their list of beneficiaries in Srinagar district, 588 of which are close to their due dates, it reports.
Hindustan Times’ lead is good news for Indians abroad — ‘64 flights will bring home 15,000 Indians in a week’. “India has launched a concerted repatriation programme, by sea and air, to bring back stranded citizens …but with a strict set of preconditions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).” Of course, the passengers will be paying for their tickets, HT observes.
More news from the Bois Locker Room as HT finds “20 boys from 4 reputed schools part of lewd chat club”. The daily says at least 20 boys “studying in at least four prominent schools in Delhi-NCR were part of an Instagram group in which members discussed raping their classmates and made lurid remarks while sharing their photos”, police officials said on Tuesday.
Like Express, the Chennai daily leads with bad news: ‘India records another spike with 3,875 new cases…’
Following up on Indians flying back, Hindu focuses on the price of coming home: “AI to charge commercial fares from stranded Indians”. It says that those returning from the Gulf and southeast Asian countries from 7 May, “will be charged commercial fares of upto ₹1,00,000 per ticket”.
In non-Covid news, Hindu explains that “TRF a Pak. ploy to avoid scrutiny, says J&K’s DGP”.
“Security forces say there is nothing alarming about The Resistance Front (TRF) as all attacks carried out by the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are being pinned on the newly formed “seasonal” group in the Kashmir Valley in order to escape international scrutiny.”
DG of the J&K Police told The Hindu that this front of the LeT was formed after the abrogation of Article 370.
And, a Nobel Laureate had some advice, ‘India needs a big stimulus package: Abhijit Banerjee’. The paper reports on the conversation between Banerjee, last year’s Nobel winner for Economics and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. According to the report, Banerjee recommended “a large enough stimulus package to increase spending and revive demand to face the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The story worth reading here is Tribune’s second lead — an exclusive interview with Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh who said he wants the Centre to “stop breathing down the necks of Chief Ministers and let states do their job”. He also pointed out that the central government had not even haled the states pay the migrants’ train fares.
The paper notes a “historic decision” made by J&K High Court as it “directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to take a call” on the practice of ‘Darbar move’ in the Union Territory.’’ The Darbar move, which dates back to 1872, is the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices of J&K from one capital city to another. The “futility” of the move and its high cost – approximately Rs. 200 crore – was pointed out in the court’s 93-page judgement, adds the report.
A shocking report ‘Teen nabbed, 22 on run in ‘Bois Locker Room’ row’ notes that Delhi Police has detained a 15-year-old student of “a prominent Delhi school” in connection to the ‘Bois Locker Room’ incident. It says 22 other boys who were identified have “gone underground”.
Mint’s lead, “Tough times, desperate steps”, tells the sad story of cash-strapped states. “With dwindling fund transfers from the Centre and limited avenues to raise taxes” via GST, states are taking drastic measures like “raising tax on fuels and bumping up liquor cess” to offset major revenue shortfalls. So far, they were borrowing money from the markets but now they’ve hit that ceiling, reports the paper.
A predictive report says the Centre may pledge PSU shares for funds in order to “provide a large fiscal stimulus to the virus-battered economy”. It harks back to economist Ajit Ranade’s Mint column Tuesday, in which he named some “state-run units” like Life Insurance Corp. of India and Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India.
Business Standard also leads with news on India’s evacuation plan – “the biggest in modern history”, but the story you ought to read is, “Banks park record Rs.8.42 trn with RBI”, the paper says the move is a sign that economic recovery “will be difficult”. Banks have been regularly “parking liquidity worth more than Rs 7 trillion, but Monday’s level can threaten the RBI’s balance sheet”, it adds.