Month: April 2020

Hyundai has announced that it had handed over Covid-19 advanced diagnostic testing kits imported from South Korea to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to further help in India’s fight against the outbreak. The South Korean car maker had placed the order for the kits back in late March.   According to Hyundai, the testing kits from South Korea worth ₹4 crore offer high levels of accuracy and can meet the testing requirements of 25,000 individuals. The company said that these kits are also being exported from South Korea to…

Following news that OPEC+ has agreed to cut production by 9.7 million per day, with Russia and Saudi Arabia assuming the biggest production reductions;   Anna Belova, Senior Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on the current events:   “As soon as the cut details were finalized, questions arose as to how Russia would be able to fulfil its obligation given the accelerated schedule. Most of the country’s oil production comes from onshore fields from over 155,000 wells, where average productivity…

Amid extended lockdown to fight against national pandemic Coronavirus, Indian Railways will forgo around Rs 660 crore in revenue as it is refunding the amount towards cancellation of around 39 lakh ticket bookings for travel in between April 15 to May 3.   The Railways had not stopped bookings for journeys beginning April 15.   On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extending the 21-day nationwide lockdown till May 3. The initial spell of the drastic measure was scheduled to end at midnight of April 14.   “The total amount…

by James McDonald, CEO/Chief Investment Officer, Hercules Investments and Kaushik Saha, SVP, Quantitative Research, Hercules Investments   Yesterday (April 13,) Goldman Sachs strategists led by David Kostin reversed their near-term equity market outlook of 2000 on the S&P 500, stating the index is unlikely to make new lows. Instead, they expect it to close the year at a targeted 3000 level.   They cited the “do whatever it takes” stance of policymakers will outweigh all negative factors in the absence of a second surge in infections after the economy reopens…

 CrossRoads of Southern Nevada, NV’s top drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, is proud to announce that in addition to accepting detox and homeless patients, the center now has a separate unit for Covid-19 isolation patients and Covid-19 quarantine patients. Top Addiction Center in Nevada Transforms a Wing for COVID-19 Response.   “As many of you may know, Las Vegas made national news highlighting the way the city was ‘housing’ our homeless,” said CrossRoads’s CEO Dave Marlon.  “We even saw pictures of squares marked out on the asphalt in a parking lot for…

India’s $191 billion IT industry employs over 4.3 million people and has largely managed to service its clients during the pandemic. The guidelines from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the extended lockdown have permitted information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services to function at 50 per cent strength beginning April 20.   The industry has welcomed the move but since most people in the sector are already working from home, companies are likely to take an individual call on if and how they would be implementing this new allowance.   While allowing IT/ITeS services as part of…

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said that it is high time that the migrant labourers, who are away from their homes during the ongoing lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, be sent back home. He also said that the Central Government should assist the State Governments and arrange for buses or planes. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “It is high time that State Governments, with Centre’s assistance if required send willing migrant labourers to their homes. It should be by buses, and Air Force transport planes…

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, the Government of India has been aggressively pushing the adoption of a new app called ‘Arogya Setu’. The app aims to act as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak. However, there have now arrived some concerns related to the app’s privacy measures.   Earlier this month, Aarogya Setu, the mobile app developed by the ministry of electronics and IT was launched to help citizens identify their risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus.   Is Arogya Setu  An ‘Unhealthy’ App For Privacy?   IFF is an Indian non-governmental…

A huge crowd was seen at Mumbai’s Bandra station, which  had gathered there on a call of a man identified as Vinay Dubey. He was allegedly running a campaign online — ‘Chalo Ghar Ki Ore’ (Head towards home) for migrant labour in Mumbai. He has been accused of inciting migrants by posting calls for action on Facebook and Twitter.   The Mumbai Police has detained a man who may have potentially set off rumours that led to hundreds of migrants flooding the Bandra West area on Tuesday.   The police…