Covid-19 crisis: Budget blowout may see RBI resort to direct financing

The government is facing a Budget deficit of as high as 7 per cent of gross domestic product, the widest in more than two decades, according to some estimates.

The central government is running out of options to fund its Budget and may soon have to knock on the central bank’s door once again for support.

The administration can get the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to buy sovereign bonds directly or boost dividends to help supplement revenue, which has been hit by an economy-crippling lockdown to contain the virus’s spread. The government is facing a Budget deficit of as high as 7 per cent of gross domestic product, the widest in more than two decades, according to some estimates.

It would “make sense to go for some form of deficit monetisation” right away, said Sabyasachi Kar, RBI chair professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in New Delhi. “Demand creation can only happen if the government spends.”

Central banks from the US to Japan are helping to fund record fiscal stimulus from their governments amid the pandemic. That’s even been the case in emerging markets like Indonesia — where the central bank this week agreed to buy billions of dollars of bonds directly from the government. The approach though carries risks for developing economies, especially for inflation, the currency and the independence of the central bank.

The Fiscal Responsibility and and Budget Management Act prevents the RBI from buying bonds directly from the government in the primary market, but the law provides an escape clause in the event of the country facing a national calamity or a severe slowdown.

China has caused great damage to the US, rest of the world: Trump

Over the last few months, Trump has been holding China responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus across the world.

China has caused great damage to the US and the rest of the world, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

Over the last few months, Trump has been holding China responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus across the world.

The coronavirus has so far claimed the lives of 533,000 people globally with the US topping the chart with 132,000 fatalities. Over 11.4 million people globally and nearly three million in the US -- the highest in the world -- have tested positive for the viral infection so far.

"China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the World!," Trump tweeted.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the economies of the countries, including that of the US, entire Europe and India, to a standstill.

Trump had questioned why China did not report about the Covid-19 outbreak in early stages and let the virus spread across the world.

In an interview to Fox News, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hinted that the President might sign an executive order that relates to China, among other issues.

"I'll give you a couple of hints, all right. So, a sneak preview here. We're going to be looking at how we make sure that China is addressed, how we bring manufacturing back from overseas to make sure the American worker is supported, he said.

Breathe easy: 40% drop in Sulphur Dioxide concentration in air across India

The observations are significant as India was in 2019 named the world's largest emitter of SO2.

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) concentration, an air pollutant released by the burning of fossil fuels, reduced across India by almost 40 per cent when the country was shut down for more than two months to contain the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows.

ESA’s observations show SO2 concentration in Delhi fell when coal-fired power plants and industries shut down for the lockdown, which started on March 24 and now has been eased off. While power plants across the country ceased entirely, some in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh maintained a substantial level of activity.

The observations are significant as India was in 2019 named the world’s largest emitter of SO2. India’s emissions have increased in the last 10 years, leading to haze and poor air quality in cities including national capital New Delhi.

Coal-based power plants and oil refineries are responsible for two-thirds of the anthropogenic SO2 emissions. “The country ranking shows India as the top emitter of SO2 in the world, contributing more than 15 per cent of the global anthropogenic SO2 emissions,” said Greenpeace in a 2019 report.

"We have experienced a reduction in Sulphur dioxide, however, this is temporary and it's not going to benefit in the long run. We should not forget that because of the drastic fall in consumption in the industrial and commercial categories, the power demand has also gone down during the lockdown. This reduction in SO2 could be achieved in the long run with cleaner energy sources," said Avinash Chanchal, Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace India.

IMF projects global economy to shrink by 4.9% this year over Covid-19

The International Monetary Fund has sharply lowered its forecast for global growth this year because it envisions far more severe economic damage.

The International Monetary Fund has sharply lowered its forecast for global growth this year because it envisions far more severe economic damage from the coronavirus than it did just two months ago.

The IMF predicts that the global economy will shrink 4.9 per cent this year, significantly worse than the 3 per cent drop it had estimated in its previous report in April. It would be the worst annual contraction since immediately after World War II.

For the United States, the IMF predicts that the nation's gross domestic product the value of all goods and services produced in the United States will plummet 8 per cent this year, even more than its April estimate of a 5.9 per cent drop. This, too, would be the worst such annual decline since the US economy demobilized in the aftermath of World War II.

The IMF issued its bleaker forecasts Wednesday in an update to the World Economic Outlook it released in April.

The update is generally in line with other recent major forecasts. Earlier this month, for example, the World Bank projected that the global economy would shrink 5.2 per cent this year.

The IMF noted that the pandemic was disproportionately hurting low-income households, imperiling the significant progress made in reducing extreme poverty in the world since 1990.

After the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the annual Rath Yatra, the state government had been facing tremendous pressure from different quarters to intervene in the matter.

The Odisha government on Sunday said it will take "favourable action" as legally permissible on a request by Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb that Lord Jagannath's Rath Yatra, which was stayed by the Supreme Court this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, be allowed sans congregation of devotees.

After the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the annual Rath Yatra, the state government had been facing tremendous pressure from different quarters to intervene in the matter.

"The State Government will take favourable action as legally permissible on the request of the Gajapati Maharaj when the writ petition W.P.(C) No. 571 of 2020 is taken up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court," Odisha law department said in a statement.

The government's response came a day after Gajapati Maharaja Deb requested it to move a fresh application before the Supreme Court seeking modification of its June 18 order.

The titular king of Puri had also requested the state government to request the court to allow the yatra sans any devotees and only in Puri as the festival is "sanctioned and mandated" according to the religious scriptures and legal provisions.

More than a dozen petitions have been moved before the Supreme Court seeking recall of its order staying the historic Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, which was scheduled for June 23.

Karur Vysya Bank joins hands with Maruti Suzuki to offer car loans

The loans are available to both salaried and self-employed customers.

Karur Vysya Bank has entered into an arrangement with Maruti Suzuki to offer 100 per cent on-road finance with a six month holiday period at attractive interest rates. The loans are available to both salaried and self-employed customers. In an announcement, the bank said that it was expecting to leverage the new car retail network of Maruti Suzuki with around 3,086 outlets across 1964 cities and towns. KVB has a branch network of 780 across 22 states and union territories.

J Natarajan, president and COO, of Karur Vysya Bank said that easy availability of finance was a key driver during these times. The lender offers customers an in-principle loan sanction in 15 minutes and existing customers of the bank can get their loans disbursed on the same day. The entire process from application to disbursement of the loan is digitised with no manual intervention.

“About 80 per cent of the new cars are typically financed via a bank in India. In light of the current situation, when the country is facing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, such customised finance solutions will help boost customer sentiment. Our association with Karur Vysya Bank is another positive step towards providing our customers financial flexibility and ease of owning a new car," said Shashank Srivastava, executive director (M&S), Maruti Suzuki India.

Following the pandemic spread in India, Maruti Suzuki has tied up with financial institutions, including HDFC Bank, to offer bouquets of flexible finance schemes for new car buyers. It has tied up with Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company to provide customised auto retail financing solutions to retail buyers. The 'Buy Now Pay Later' offer is aimed at providing customers with a two-month deferment of EMIs in order to offer comfort to buyers, who might have faced a liquidity crunch during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Chinese mainland reports 49 new Covid-19 cases, 39 domestically transmitted

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 36 were reported in Beijing and three in Hebei Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

China's health authority said on Monday that it received reports of 49 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Chinese mainland on Sunday, of which 39 were domestically transmitted and 10 were imported.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 36 were reported in Beijing and three in Hebei Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report, Xinhua reported.

On Sunday, one person was discharged from hospital after recovery. No deaths related to the disease were reported, according to the commission.

As of Sunday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,181, including 177 patients who were still being treated, with two in severe condition.

Altogether 78,370 people had been discharged after recovery and 4,634 people had died of the disease, the commission said.

By Sunday, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 1,837 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,745 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 92 remained hospitalized. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

The commission said one new suspected case was reported Sunday and there were currently three suspected cases.

According to the commission, 3,852 close contacts were still under medical observation after 392 people were discharged from medical observation Sunday.

Worries over liquidity to boost credit card, personal loans: CIBIL

Unlike the slowdown a decade ago, demand for credit cards and personal loans will remain as consumers look to secure funds to bridge gaps in personal finance.

Demand for secured loans — home and auto loans — is expected to see a pronounced dip in the coming quarters as consumers look to stay liquid during the Covid-19 crisis. Products that provide liquidity like credit cards and personal loans will see moderate demand, according to credit information bureau CIBIL.

Unlike the slowdown a decade ago, demand for credit cards and personal loans will remain as consumers look to secure funds to bridge gaps in personal finance. Their availability and market penetration are higher than earlier.

The prevalence of fintech firms has also introduced new, flexible product structures and enhanced access via digital channels. Equally, because of the nature of the Covid-19 crisis, there has been an increase in the need for digital payments, which credit cards facilitate.

CIBIL said consumers are reducing discretionary spending, and they will cut down on travel. The demand for secured lending products like auto and home loans will likely remain weak for some time, it added. The lockdowns have had far-reaching implications. Consumers’ finances have changed dramatically, with many seeing pay cuts and lay-offs. There has been a sharp drop in consumer sentiment and consumption demand and spending have taken significant hits.

Abhay Kelkar, vice-president (research and consulting) TransUnion CIBIL, said the social, financial and economic impact of Covid-19 will be far reaching and will lead to a realignment of the retail credit market.

India’s retail credit market is still growing at a much higher rate than most others around the world. However, this is a global crisis and no economy is immune, Kelkar said.

Coronavirus may have been spreading in Wuhan in August: Harvard study

The research, which has not been peer-reviewed by other scientists, used satellite imagery of hospital parking lots in Wuhan - where the disease was first identified in late 2019.

Beijing dismissed as “ridiculous” a Harvard Medical School study of hospital traffic and search engine data that suggested the new coronavirus may already have been spreading in China last August, and scientists said it offered no convincing evidence of when the outbreak began.

The research, which has not been peer-reviewed by other scientists, used satellite imagery of hospital parking lots in Wuhan — where the disease was first identified in late 2019 — and data for symptom-related queries on search engines for things such as “cough” and “diarrhoea”.

The study’s authors said increased hospital traffic and symptom search data in Wuhan preceded the documented start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in December 2019.

On the new theory of the virus origin, the paper says, "Scientists collected viral genome samples from 326 patients in Shanghai between January 20 and February 25.

They identified two major clades, both of which included cases diagnosed in early December 2019. The scientists noticed that genomes of six patients with contact history related to the Huanan seafood market fell into one kind of clade while those of three other patients diagnosed in the same period but without exposure to the market clustered into the other clade, suggesting multiple origins of transmission in Shanghai."

Earlier the Chinese study into the origin of the novel coronavirus have suggested that the virus, which caused havoc on the globe, had its origin in the famous Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. However, the US, especially its President Donald Trump, was not convinced by the claims of China on the origin of the virus.

Covid-19 crisis: Unlock 1.0 to revive fuel sales soon, says Indian Oil

Fuel sales had dropped in April after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19 infection

Weeks after the coronavirus lockdown led to fuel sales nosediving to record lows, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, sees demand returning with the resumption of economic activities.

The company said though it is on track to spend the approved capital expenditure for 2020-21, it has "critically examined all capex proposals for rationalisation of cost and time frame." "The company is also conscious of the costs and has also undertaken rationalisation measures in this direction," it said without giving details.

Fuel sales had dropped in April after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19 infections. The lockdown shut factories and offices, took most vehicles off roads, stopped train movement and suspended air travel.

"The demand for the petroleum products dropped by 46 per cent in April 2020. The sales of petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) in April 2020 were down by 61 per cent, 56.7 per cent and 91.5 per cent respectively as compared to April 2019," it said in a regulatory filing on impact of Covid-19.

Due to certain relaxations by the Centre and some state governments starting last month, sales for the products improved in May as compared to April 2020. "However, the sale for these three products was still lower by 38.9 per cent as compared to May 2019." India will see more opening up from June 8 with malls and markets resuming operations.

Samsung extends standard warranty across products until June 15: Know more

The new warranty extension shall benefit more customers' as it widens the scope of warranty period on products that were not part of earlier announcement.

Samsung India has extended standard warranty on its product portfolio until June 15 to provide relief to customers grappling with the impact of coronavirus crisis, which has put the nation in lockdown for a period of more than two months.

"Keeping in mind the current situation, we have extended the standard warranty across our product portfolio till June 15, 2020. This will be valid for all products whose warranty expired in the period between March 20 and May 31," said Samsung India in a statement.

This is the second time Samsung has extended standard warranty on its products since the first lockdown owing to coronavirus was announced. Earlier, the company had extended the standard warranty till May 31, 2020 for all products whose warranty were expiring between March 20 and April 30.

The new warranty extension shall benefit more customers’ as it widens the scope of warranty period on products that were not part of earlier announcement.

Besides offering extended warranty, Samsung has also been working on new business models to boost sales amid coronavirus crisis. The company has partnered with digital payments platform Benow to help customers purchase Galaxy smartphones and Samsung consumer durables from their neighbourhood stores though digital platform.

Moreover, the company recently announced that all of its exclusive stores have been 'Suraksha' certified to ensure consumer safety at a time when social distancing is the new normal.

Google Pay expands 'Nearby Stores' feature to 35 cities in India: Know more

Nearby Stores spot on Google Pay helps users see which stores, providing essential goods, are open in their vicinity.

Google Pay on Wednesday announced that it's 'Nearby Stores’ spot, which provides information such as business hours, essential items stock, social distancing information, is now available in 35 cities across the country.

“Originally rolled in a few cities across India, this Spot is now available in 35 cities across the country. Additionally, merchant establishments can now indicate their business hours, whether social distancing measures are in place at the store and the essential goods presently in stock. Additionally, users in Mumbai can also see if the store is present in a containment zone,” said Google in a statement.

Here is a list of cities that get Google Pay’s Nearby Stores spot:

Telangana: Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Secunderabad

Karnataka: Bengaluru, Mysuru

Maharashtra: Mumbai, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Pimpri-Chinchwad

Delhi NCR: New Delhi

Haryana: Gurugram, Faridabad

Tamil Nadu: Chennai

Gujarat: Surat, Ahmedabad

Bihar: Patna

Uttar Pradesh: Varanasi, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Prayag Raj, Kanpur, Noida, Greater Noida

Andhra Pradesh: Visakhapatnam

Madhya Pradesh: Indore

West Bengal: Kolkata

Orissa: Bhubaneswar

Punjab: Ludhiana, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar,

Chandigarh

Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Ernakulam

Besides expanding the Nearby Stores spot to more cities, Google Pay now also takes booking for cooking gas cylinders from HP Gas, Bharat Petroleum and Indane.

Aarogya Setu must, no sparring, no baton exchange for contact sports

Athletics, hockey, badminton, boxing and shooting were among the 11 disciplines that were permitted to resume outdoor training following relaxations in the lockdown.

Baton exchange won’t be allowed in relay training, boxers will not have access to rings and only singles players will get to practice at indoor badminton courts, according to the Sports Authority of India’s SOP for resumption of training, the timeline for which is still not clear.

Athletics, hockey, badminton, boxing and shooting were among the 11 disciplines that were permitted to resume outdoor training following relaxations in the lockdown. Weightlifters, archers, cyclists, fencers, wrestlers, and paddlers, too, can resume training with requisite safety measures. The document makes the Aarogya Setu app mandatory for all athletes and staff and calls for strict social distancing at training.

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The SOP, however, prohibits sparring for contact disciplines and has barred the use of swimming pools for now.

The SOP came after the Centre allowed the opening of sports complexes and stadia in its guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown, which has been extended till May 31. But there has been no clarity on when the training will resume.

Airbus exploring restructuring plans, job cuts due to Covid-19: Report

For now, Airbus is relying on government-backed furlough schemes in France, Germany and Britain to reduce staff costs after earlier asking employees to take 10 days' leave.

Airbus is exploring restructuring plans involving the possibility of "deep" job cuts as it braces for a prolonged coronavirus crisis after furloughing thousands of workers, industry sources said, though no decision is imminent.

Europe's largest aerospace group has not ruled out layoffs while signalling that no decisions will be made before the summer. But a global airline crisis has gathered speed in recent weeks, with carriers and suppliers pleading for help.

Chief Executive Guillaume Faury is expected to update managers on Thursday after warning staff last month that the firm's survival was at stake due to a slump in demand.

Under French law, Toulouse-based Airbus cannot disclose restructuring plans internally before consulting trade unions through a formal exercise not expected before the end of May. But people close to the company said senior staff would be attempting to read between the lines of Faury's weekly internal briefing to gauge his job plans.

"Over the last few weeks, Airbus has implemented a number of financial, operational and social measures in order to adapt to the severe health and economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis," an Airbus spokesman said.

"The company will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the future of Airbus in cooperation with its social partners."

A meeting with unions is scheduled for Thursday to discuss progress on furlough schemes, French union sources said. More temporary furloughs could be announced in the coming week.

One insider said any restructuring plan would involve forced redundancies and cutbacks were expected to be deep, though others cautioned it was too early to talk of specific numbers.

Haryana allows select firms to deploy 100% workforce in multiple shifts

Auto component major Sona Comstar, which earlier could deploy only half of its workers, has been allowed to bring in its entire workforce at its four plants - three in Gurugram and one in Manesar.

In a significant relaxation of rules on the deployment of labour, the Haryana government has decided to allow select companies to operate factories in multiple shifts and utilise 100 per cent of their workforce.

Auto component major Sona Comstar, which earlier could deploy only half of its workers, has been allowed to bring in its entire workforce at its four plants — three in Gurugram and one in Manesar. It is also planning to initially increase the number of shifts from one to two.

The state government has also given the go-ahead to Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant to utilise 75 per cent of its workforce. Maruti’s Manesar plant opened for production on Tuesday, while the Gurugram plant might take more time to restart.

The state government had earlier allowed companies to operate with workforce ranging from 20 per cent to over 50 per cent.

Confirming the development, Sunjay Kapur, chairman of Sona Comstar, said:

“Yes, we have received permission today (Tuesday) that we can operate with 100 per cent manpower in all our Haryana plants and the factory can be operational 24x7. We are doing only exports so far and are waiting for local demand. Manpower is an issue as migrant workers have gone back. We will have to work on bringing them back.”

Kapur also confirmed that the firm had received permission for running the factory through the day.

Uber sees rides recovering from Covid-19 lows, banks on food-delivery biz

Uber reported it had seen encouraging signs in markets hit by the pandemic and posted a 14% rise in revenue for the first quarter, supported by a jump in food-delivery orders at its Uber Eats business.

Uber Technologies Inc's ride service bookings slowly recovered in recent weeks as the company expects a coronavirus-related slowdown will delay the goal of becoming profitable by a matter of quarters, not years, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Thursday.

He spoke after Uber reported it had seen encouraging signs in markets hit by the pandemic and posted a 14% rise in revenue for the first quarter, supported by a jump in food-delivery orders at its Uber Eats business.

Khosrowshahi said stringent cost cutting, to the tune of more than $1 billion (808 million pounds) in 2020, would ensure the company stayed on track. Uber on Wednesday said it would lay off 3,700 full-time employees, or roughly 17% of its headcount.

The company, which makes the bulk of its revenue through ride-hailing, said trip requests had dropped 80% globally in April, but were slowly recovering. In the United States, Uber's most important market, ride requests were up 12% last week from their lowest point in April.

In large cities in Georgia and Texas, U.S. states that have reopened parts of their economy in recent weeks, trips were up around 45% from their low point in April, Uber said.

Global lockdown orders aimed at curbing the spread of the virus were a silver lining for Uber's loss-making food delivery unit, with many new customers and restaurants signing up for the service as eateries were shuttered.

Uber recorded $3.54 billion in total revenue for the first three months of the year, roughly in line with analyst estimates, but still posted a $2.9 billion loss in the period. That included a $2.1 billion pretax writedown of the value of some of Uber's minority investments.

Covid-19: Zuckerberg endorses Silicon Valley lockdown, Musk sees 'fascism'

Zuckerberg expresses concerns about easing lockdown measures. Musk calls the move 'anti-democratic'.

Silicon Valley billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg offered dueling views on lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday, with Facebook's Zuckerberg endorsing the measures while Tesla's Musk condemned them as anti-democratic.

Musk, who has often made outspoken and even inflammatory comments on conference calls and on Twitter, said in comments to analysts on Tesla Inc's earnings call that it was "fascist" to say people cannot leave their homes.

"This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom," Musk said.

Zuckerberg, on the other hand, in comments on Facebook's own earnings calls, expressed concerns about easing lockdown measures and said the economic fallout from the pandemic would last longer than people are currently anticipating.

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"I worry that reopening certain places too quickly before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels will almost guarantee future outbreaks and worse longer-term health and economic outcomes," he said.

Both companies are based in the San Francisco Bay area, which was out front in trying to slow the virus' spread, with the region's seven counties issuing a joint shelter-in-place order before California issued a statewide order.

Electric carmaker Tesla and social media network Facebook have had different experiences under the lockdown. Tesla had initially resisted efforts by California authorities to shut its plant in the Bay Area under the lockdown, until agreeing on March 19 to suspend production. Even so, Tesla on Wednesday reported its third profitable quarter in a row.

Lockdown 2.0: Coronavirus-hit units get Rs 10,000 crore from banks

Banks have built internal capacities for assisting companies, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Ahead of finalising the package for industries hit by Covid-19, the Union finance ministry reviewed support extended by large public sector banks (PSBs), including via the emergency credit line, to affected firms. 

State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) have together sanctioned close to Rs 10,000 crore as immediate credit assistance to the affected units.

PSB executives said this was a regular review with top officials of large banks, including SBI. There was also discussion on working capital re-assessment.

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Banks have built internal capacities for assisting companies, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs). Feedback from interactions is expected to act as an input for policies that are in works.

However, it is not clear when the package would be finalised, officials said. A SBI executive said the bank is giving these emergency loans to those in need. It does not involve elaborate scrutiny. Only thing is that borrowers have to establish the Covid impact.

Covid-19 impact: Paytm Mall plans to partner with over 10,000 small shops

Currently, Paytm Mall is working with all leading logistics players including GATI, Ecom Express, Delhivery, Bluedart, FedEx.

Paytm Mall said on Sunday that it will partner with over 10,000 kirana or local stores, small shops, and businesses for hyperlocal deliveries, joining a growing race amongst e-commerce firms to remain relevant amid the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Its larger rivals- Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart - have also announced similar plans. Reliance JioMart's partnership with WhatsApp is also a step in the same direction.

Paytm Mall has been investing in scaling its hyperlocal operations over the last few weeks and is now offering delivery of grocery essentials in more than 100 cities across the country and plans to scale it to more cities within the next few weeks.

"Paytm Mall has always advocated a 100 per cent marketplace model of operation against an inventory-led one as pursued by other major players. Our objective is to connect neighbourhood offline stores to interested customers far and wide through our e-commerce platform. We are constantly reaching out to smaller sellers to understand the challenges they are facing in stocking inventory as well as the delivery of goods," said Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President, Paytm Mall.

Currently, Paytm Mall is working with all leading logistics players including GATI, Ecom Express, Delhivery, Bluedart, FedEx.

In a statement, Paytm Mall further said that as more fulfillment and delivery executives of logistics partners resume work, more orders would be eligible for same-day delivery.

According to the company, there has been a massive uptick in the sales in grocery essentials from Tier-II and Tier-III towns as over 200 such cities are ordering the most on Paytm Mall.

Govt promotes blood donation amid Covid-19 lockdown, issues guidelines

All the blood donors will be given passes for smooth movement during the lockdown.

After partial relief in lockdown at select places, the government is now looking at promoting blood donation, especially for Thalassemic and Hemophilic patients.

In a letter to state blood transfusion councils (SBTC), the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) promoted voluntary blood donation programmes across the country.

In the letter, it noted that due to the national lockdown from March 25, there was limited movement of Blood Mobile and Transportation vans, and blood donations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a communication to the chief secretaries, administrators, Cmmissioner of Police of all the states to facilitate the movement of blood mobile/ transportation vans and blood donors.

In a letter to all the state health ministers, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan termed that availability of blood in blood banks as 'essential'.

"We are cognizant of the situation that due to restrictions, it may not be possible to organize blood donation camps. However, at the same time, it is necessary to ensure sufficient availability of blood, especially for people needing regular blood transfusion on account of blood disorders such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia etc," he wrote.

To facilitate the donation process, he asked the Chief Ministers to appeal for blood donation through media and adviced to maintain records of donors and information on the status of current stocks of each blood group.