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1.
Covid-19: Amid Rising Cases, Section 144 Imposed In Mumbai
Covid-19 cases in
India continue to mount by the day as the country struggles to prevent new
infections while reopening the economy.
India
added over 18,000 new cases of the novel virus, taking the total tally to more
than 5.85 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m.
Mumbai
police on Wednesday issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in the
city, restricting movement of people in public places, and said the measure was
taken to check rising Covid-19 cases.
The order
puts curbs on movement for non-essential work and shall remain so till July 15,
unless withdrawn earlier.
Globally, cases
crossed 1.05 crore with deaths crossing 5.11 lakh.
Tokyo
confirmed 67 cases of coronavirus Wednesday, the highest since the state of
emergency order was lifted.
Mexico reported 5,432 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, bringing the total
2.26 lakh.
2. RBI Kicks Off
Liquidity Window For NBFCs
The Reserve Bank of
India issued guidelines for a special liquidity facility to support the
country’s non-bank lenders.
SBI Capital Markets
has set up a special purpose vehicle to manage the scheme.
The special purpose vehicle will purchase the
short-term papers from eligible NBFCs/HFCs.
The
special purpose vehicle will buy investment-grade commercial papers and
non-convertible debentures with a residual maturity of not more than three
months. This can be a primary issuance or secondary market purchases.
NBFCs/HFCs
can utilise the proceeds under this scheme solely for the purpose of
extinguishing existing liabilities. Purchases will be made only till September
2020.
3. GST Collection
Fell To Record Lows, Then Recovered
The government’s
goods and services tax collections improved for the second straight month after
dropping to a record low in March as sales fell during the nationwide lockdown
to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The mop-up for May, collected in June, stood at Rs
90,917 crore, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance.
That’s a
46.6% jump from April and 9% drop from the year-ago period.
The
revenue for March had plunged 72% year-on-year to Rs 32,294 crore.
4. India, U.S.
Indian stocks rose
as investors looked beyond rising coronavirus infections to pick out stocks
seen benefiting from government steps to contain the deepening downturn in
Asia’s third-biggest economy.
The
S&P BSE Sensex advanced 1.4%, after capping its best quarter since 2009.
The NSE Nifty 50 Index added 1.2%.
Financial stocks contributed the most to Wednesday’s
gain on the benchmark index.
Seven of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd.
rose, led by a gauge of financial stocks.
Indian equities,
along with their global peers, recovered most of their losses from the worst
plunge in over a decade as central banks across the world pumped in trillions
to revive economies after the coronavirus outbreak. Yet, it worries Andrew
Holland that an event can "prick or burst that bubble” in a
liquidity-driven market.
U.S. stocks climbed
after positive coronavirus vaccine developments, better-than-expected
manufacturing data and a surprise profit from economic bellwether FedEx Corp.
The S&P 500 extended gains into a third day as an
early trial of an experimental shot from Pfizer Inc. and BioNtech SE showed
it’s safe and prompted patients to produce antibodies.
The New York-based drugmaker led gains in the Dow Jones
Industrial Average. FedEx had its biggest-ever surge on a closing basis.
A closely watched measure of U.S. manufacturing jumped
in June to the highest in more than a year, signaling the resumption of growth
as pandemic-related lockdowns ended.
Treasuries and the dollar fell.
5. DHFL's
Life Insurance Unit Sale Plan
Dewan Housing
Finance Corporation Ltd., which is under insolvency resolution proceedings, is
looking to sell its 51% stake in unit Pramerica Life Insurance for Rs 2,500
crore, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The sale will take place outside Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code resolution process which is currently underway, the people told
BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity.
Since the stake in Pramerica Life Insurance is owned
via DHFL Investments Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of DHFL, lenders to the
housing finance company can attempt a sale outside the bankruptcy process.
According to the people quoted above, the sale process
will be initiated in a few weeks and the sale proceeds will add to the housing
finance company’s cash holdings, making it a more attractive proposition for
bidders.
6. Patanjali Can
Sell Coronil, But Not As Covid-19 Cure
The Ministry of
Ayush has allowed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. to make and sell its new drug as an
immunity booster without claiming that it can cure Covid-19.
The Divya Coronil tablet is registered by the
Uttarakhand licensing authority against respiratory tract ailments and all
types of fever, but not as a cure for Covid-19, the ministry said in a letter
to Patanjali.
It, however, allowed the company to continue clinical
trials.
The letter also said the ministry “observed that Divya
Pharmacy, Patanjali Research Foundation Trust, Haridwar has "initiated
necessary activities for the management of Covid-19
7. June
Auto Sales: More Of The Same
Indian automakers
are reporting their sales data for June today, amid supply-chain constraints
emerging out of the recent India-China border conflict and lingering effects of
a lockdown.
Sales of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. fell 54% year-on-year
to 57,428 units in June.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. saw sales decline 55%
year-on-year to 19,358 units. However, tractor sales increased 10% to 36,544
units.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd. said sales quadrupled over last
month and that sales have now reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
TVS Motor Co. sales fell 33.2% to 1,98,387 units.
8. UPI,
Aadhaar-Enabled Payments Hit Record High
Digital payments
platforms saw a continued rebound in June as economic activity picked up from
the lows of March and April and more consumers took to online payments.
Data released by the National Payments Corporation of
India on Wednesday showed a pick-up across all key digital payments platforms.
Transactions via the Unified Payment Interface and the
Aadhaar-Enabled Payment Systems hit record highs.
There were 134 crore transactions conducted via UPI in
June compared to 123 in the month before, according to NPCI data.
While
transactions on the Bharat Bill Payments System fell 70% between March and
April this year, the platform continues to on-board new customer and bill
payment companies.
9. India To Shun
Chinese Telecom Gear?
India may advise
local telecom operators to shun equipment made by China’s Huawei Technologies
Co. and ZTE Corp., people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News, as
relations between the neighbors deteriorated amid a border dispute.
The government is also planning to review existing
contracts of state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. and Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd. with Chinese companies, the people said, asking not to be identified
as the matter is under discussion.
The
telecom ministry has approached private companies including Bharti Airtel Ltd.,
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., and Vodafone Idea Ltd. on their use of Chinese
network equipment, they said
10. Masks, The True
Measure Of Covid-Era Patriotism
Forget the
pointless distractions of equating loyalty to the nation with #BoycottChina and follow this
better way to display your patriotism, writes Priya Ramani.
Wear a mask, save your fellow citizens.
The marketing possibilities are endless.
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