Wednesday morning begins on an optimistic and reassuring note with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promising steps to contain the impact of coronavirus on the economy. Also, from an Indian viewpoint, good news that Pakistan will probably remain on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.
Relief may also be around the corner for telecom companies after discussions were held between them and the government.
And in the midst of the ‘video war’, the Delhi Police have a Jamia chargesheet.
The Times of India, in its lead story, on the linking of Aadhar and voter ID notes that this “would remove bogus and duplicate entries and pave the way for giving ‘remote’ voting rights to migrant voters.” According to TOI, this could be “a scorcher’’ of a summer as “the Indian Meteorological Department’s forecast for March and April has indicated an ‘enhanced probability’ of above-normal temperatures in several parts of India”. Note, the price of ACs could go up due to the coronavirus as reported in the Business Standard today.
Speaking of the epidemic’s impact on the economy, TOI hints at possible solutions being considered by the government: “Reduction in customs duty on some essential inputs, apart from speeding up port clearances”.
An entirely speculative story on JNU also makes its way onto Page 1: “Over a hundred people have been questioned and the police are in the process of working out the final sequence of events, based on different versions given to them. Sources said a charge-sheet will be ready soon for filing.”
In an interview with The Indian Express RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das believes that the spike in inflation rate is only a temporary one but growth is still the reigning agenda. “Because of the spike in inflation, we have decided to take a pause,” the paper quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, “foodgrains production in the country is expected to reach an all-time high of 291.95 million tonnes” this year because of a “bumper wheat output”, writes Express. In an accompanying piece, it states that this is “a fiscal and political challenge”.
Read the comprehensive piece on Congress’ criticism of the appointments of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the next Central Information Commissioner. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the opposition leader on the selection committee, objected after a member of the search committee “also turned out to be applicant for the CVC and was finally shortlisted for the post”.
And here’s a report from Guwahati on the “challenges that lie ahead in the NRC exercise” in Assam. As many as 15 documents including “voter lists of four years, a parents’ NRC clearance, land revenue payment receipts, certificates from the village headman” were rejected by the Gauhati High Court as proof of one Jabeda Khanum’s citizenship.
Hindustan Times focuses on the coronavirus outbreak showing a possible downturn in China, and its economic impact. The central government is expected to announce several measures to combat “disruptions feared to hit industries that depend on raw materials from China”. And bad news for Apple phone addicts: Iphone supplies are set to fall due to the virus.
The paper notes that “credible inputs from the law enforcement agencies” regarding security threats has led to the postponement of the panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir. However, neither the agencies or the paper are able to spell out the security threats.
The Jamia chargesheet report has relief for students: “None of the 18 people accused of rioting, violence, attacking security personnel and damaging public as well as private property are students of Jamia Millia Islamia.”
HT’s flap story focuses on a Chinese ship that almost “slipped away to Pakistan”. The ship was detained for “wrongly declaring an autoclave which can also be used in the manufacture of missiles as a dryer.”
The Hindu, like Express, highlights an international agency’s recommendation that Pakistan remain on FATF’s grey list “given its failure to completely implement the 27-point action plan to check terror financing.”
And here is a most unusual lighthearted anchor story for the Hindu on ‘America’s Got Talent’ —“a 34-member dance group from the fringes of Mumbai, V Unbeatable, had won America’s Got Talent: The Champions Season 2.” The paper also features a report on Karbis, “An Assam based insurgency group”, which “has demanded that the Bodos in the hill areas not be given the Scheduled Tribe status as it will affect the ‘identity of the Karbis’.”
With not much happening news-wise, The Telegraph has an interesting anchor story on a poem that has “acquired a prophetic edge for many Indians plunged into uncertainty by the new citizenship matrix.” The poem was written in 2017, by an MBBS graduate Hasna Sherin and has been quoted extensively by celebrated Malayalam filmmaker Kamal.
The lead takes a dig at the Jamia attack as “Delhi police have formally made self-effacing confessions” in the first Jamia chargesheet. The chargesheet states that the students got injured “not because the police swung fibreglass lathis with all their might but because of a stampeded and stone-pelting”.
The New Indian Express focuses on the “widening rift” in the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi as Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that he was “okay with first and third acronyms” of CAA-NRC-NPR. Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat, who emphatically opposes all three, said that the alliance was yet to discuss the matter “internally”.
NIE also has the heartwarming story on the Mumbai-based dance-troupe that won the popular reality show America’s Got Talent. The group comprises 34 dancers, “many of whom reside in the city’s slums”.
Mumbai Mirror raises questions about Anil Ambani’s firm being given a Rs 260 crore loan by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to finish the Pune-Bangalore Highway. The paper adds that this was done “despite the company missing deadline after deadline to complete the widening of a crucial stretch.”
The main focus on page 1 in The Tribune is the high-level meeting which will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday. Proposals to counter the disruption of nearly $30 billion in imports and exports” because of the lockdown in China over the coronavirus epidemic are expected to be discussed. Also, the Punjab and Haryana High Court will separately list cases from the 90s for daily hearings in order to address the pendency of 5.5 lakh cases.
The Economic Times leads with how the government is unlikely to invoke Vodafone Idea’s bank guarantees to pay AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues and after the Supreme Court, the government might be unwilling to invoke “bank guarantees [which] would be the precursor to termination of telecom licences”.
The shortage of imports from coronavirus-hit China is likely to result in the increase in prices of durables and phones. “Companies are cutting down on discounts and offers, which will raise prices by 3-5%” and “for items such as televisions it could be 7-10%”.
There’s a small but important item about drug companies Sun Pharma and the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance assuring that the slump has not led to any medicine shortages yet.
Mint highlights the meeting between Vodafone Idea Ltd chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and telecom secretary Anshu Prakash. Bank guarantees were discussed in the meeting, according to the report.
Meanwhile, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit “the largest US nuclear delegation to visit India in five years held talks with senior Indian officials last week, exploring collaborations in research and development (R&D) and advanced nuclear technology”.
And with jobs in short supply, what are the youth turning to? Here’s a story about millennials who are working in detective agencies. “Since detectives and private investigators are not recognized by Indian law, there’s only anecdotal evidence to show a growth in interest in the profession,” the report notes.
Business Standard leads with the central government’s measures to address the “operation issues faced” by Indian industries because of the slump in imports from coronavirus-hit China.
According to a comprehensive report on the meeting between K. M. Birla and telecom secretary Anshu Prakash, the “government remained silent” on the next steps it would take despite the ministries mulling over the matter but “there were indications that the government could explore the ordinance route”.
Read the anchor story about how the economic slowdown has impacted salary hikes in India. The projected increase for 2020 at 9.1 per cent “maybe the lowest in a decade”.
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