ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

The interest rate for Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been slashed to 7.4 per cent from 8.6 per cent, while that for National Savings Certificate has been cut to 6.8 per cent from 7.9 per cent.

The Ordinance, which got presidential assent Tuesday, also amended the provisions of the Income-tax Act to provide the same tax treatment to the PM-CARES Fund as available to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

The Sensex rose 1,028.17 points, or 3.62 per cent, to 29,468.49, while the NSE Nifty gained 3.82 per cent, or 317 points, at 8,597.75.

Out of gross borrowings of Rs 7.8 lakh crore in FY21, the Centre has proposed to borrow Rs 4.88 lakh crore, or 62.56 per cent, in the first half of the fiscal, as against 62.25 per cent done in the previous fiscal.

The move is expected to ensure continuity of payments amid a cash crunch being faced by companies.

While state-run BSNL and MTNL have extended the validity of all such pre-paid subscribers till April 20, private telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio Infocomm also held internal review and meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

The benchmark Sensex plummeted 1,375.27 points to 28,440.32, while the NSE Nifty index fell 379.15 points to 8,281.10.

The three-month insurance scheme was part of the Rs 1.70 lakh Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week.

The Indian Banks Association, meanwhile, has advised customers that most banking services are available online.

Experts said this window provides an opportunity to firms to complete long standing compliances, besides providing them additional time to complete filings that are falling due in the time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

he Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund was constituted by the government earlier this week to receive charitable contributions to deal with emergency situations like the current coronavirus outbreak.

The central government has asked the state-run power generating companies such as NTPC and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd to not curtail supply to the states even if the discoms do not clear payments to them on time.

In a communication to field offices, EPFO has said officers should be made aware about changes so that such claims are “processed promptly and relief reaches the worker and his family to help them fight with COVID-19”.

India lockdown: The minister said she will discuss with states and ensure there are no restrictions on the movement of cash, bankers, vendors or bank mitras.

“The sitting Members of Parliament may recommend release of fund from the eligible instalment/s to be released by the MoSPI during 2020-21 to/through such fund/central government pool (as may be decided by central government for managing COVID-19 in the country,” it said.

While Tata Trusts, the major shareholder of Tata Sons, have committed Rs 500 crore, Tata Sons announced an additional Rs 1,000 crore in support towards fighting the COVID-19 outbreak and related activities.

In addition to freighter aircraft already being allowed to transport without restrictions, the Centre has also allowed private airlines to operate passenger planes only with cargo.

The decline has been primarily driven by outflow of funds by FPIs as they pulled out over $15 billion in March till date.

"An Air Cargo management group for COVID19 has been created with a dedicated team for smooth movement of cargo. Ministry is adopting a hub & spoke approach to move essential commodities across the country," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Though Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das unveiled a slew of measures, the markets were not enthused. The growth projection of 4.7 per cent for the fourth quarter of FY20 and 5 per cent for the whole fiscal was at risk, Das said.