Delhi highest contributor to new Covid-19 cases; beats Maharashtra, Kerala

 Seventy-nine per centof the45,903 new COVID-19 cases are from 10 states and UTs,withDelhi overtakingMaharashtra and Kerala by reporting 7,745 infections in a span of 24 hours to becomethelargest contributor to the single-day infections, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

Delhi had earlier overtaken Maharashtra and Kerala on November 7 also.

The city has reported the highest daily new cases, also its highest tally so far with 7,745 new cases. The national capital is followed by Maharashtra with 5,585 cases and Kerala with 5,585 cases, the ministry said.

"New daily cases continue to trend downwards with the success of Jan-Andolan promoting COVID appropriate behaviour." the ministry said.

The trend of recoveries outnumbering new cases has continued for the 37th day with 48,405 cases recovering in a span of 24 hours as against45,903infections being reported during the same period.

"This trend has continued to shrink the active caseload of India whichpresently stands at 5,09,673 which comprises 5.96 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases," the ministry underlined.

India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has also declined as new cases decline but focus on testing remains a prime commitment of the Centre and the State and UT governments.

India's cumulative positivity rate has dropped to 7.19 per cent as on date.

The COVID-19 recovery rate has also been boosted with the trend of recoveries exceeding new cases and presently stands at 92.56 per cent. Total recoveries have surged to 79,17,373 and exceed active cases by 74,07,700.

India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has also declined as new cases decline but focus on testing remains a prime commitment of the Centre and the State and UT governments. India's cumulative positivity rate has dropped to 7.19 per cent as on date.

The ministry said that79 per centof the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 8,232 newly recovered cases. 6,853 people recovered in Kerala followed by 6,069 in Maharashtra.

Covid-19 pandemic to keep Indian steel exports subdued in near term: ICRA

The rapid spread of coronavirus and its crippling effect on economies across the globe is set to keep Indian steel exports subdued in the near term.

A report by rating agency ICRA Ltd forecasts that steel exports from the country are likely to be muted in the near term due to curbs on trade flow and depressed demand in buyer nations especially Italy and Belgium which accounted for 14 per cent of India’s outbound steel shipments during April-February period of FY20.

Since 2014-15, India’s steel exports and imports have witnessed a roller coaster run. Both in FY15 and FY16, imports trumped exports significantly. In FY17 and FY18, exports staged a comeback, outstripping imports. Later, in FY19, steel exports again lost ground to imports.

India had remained a net importer of steel during most part of the first half or April-September period of last fiscal. But the tables turned in the country’s favour as exports gained momentum during Q2 and Q3. In Q3, India turned a net exporter of steel. Between April and February of FY20, steel imports by the country contracted 10.4 per cent whereas exports soared 34.9 per cent. China, Korea, and Japan put together had a staggering share of 73 per cent in India’s steel imports in this period.

“However, given the risk of delayed deliveries due to bottlenecks in production, logistics, and port handling capacities, as well as the risk of transmission from import consignments, resulting in stringent scrutiny from port customs authorities, India’s steel imports are likely to remain low in the coming months”, the report from ICRA noted.

Following GDP growth trends, domestic steel demand has steadily decelerated, declining from 6.9 per cent in Q1 of FY20 to 3.1 per cent in Q2 and reducing further to 1.4 per cent in Q3. For the April-February period of FY20, steel consumption growth stood at 3.9 per cent while steel production growth remained meagre at 0.2 per cent during the same period.

While announcements like 15 per cent higher budgetary allocation towards the Jal Jeevan Mission, expansion of the gas grid from 16,200 km to 27,000 km and 40 per cent increase in Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City Mission in the Union Budget 2020-21 remain key positives for domestic steel demand in the medium term, the rising number of confirmed Coronavirus cases and almost a month-long lockdown in India remains a concern.
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“The same, along with the continuing macroeconomic headwinds, could affect domestic steel consumption and pressurise steel prices in the coming months. Consequently, we estimate the domestic steel consumption growth to remain low at 2-3 per cent in FY21, as against our November 2019 forecast of 6.5 per cent”, the ICRA report observed.

The report notes that domestic steel players witnessed a steady fall in mill inventory holding period from 53 days in November 2019 to 43 days in February 2020 as customers started replenishing inventories. However, as sales dried up following the imposition of lockdown from March 25, 2020, the declining trend in mill inventory holding is expected to certainly reverse from March 2020.

Covid-19 crisis: UBI sets up emergency funding window for corporates, MSMEs

Public sector lender Union Bank of India on Thursday said it has set up an emergency funding window for its MSME and corporate customers impacted by coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The bank is offering a maximum 10 per cent of the existing working capital limit to accounts that are standard as on February 1, 2020, a statement said.
The repayment period of these loans will be 36 months, including maximum moratorium of 12 months. The window is open till September 30, 2020.
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"This credit facility is available at NIL margin with competitive rate of interest - 8 per cent fixed rate of interest, which is one-year MCLR as on date," the bank said.
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All MSME/agriculture borrowers are eligible for a loan up to Rs 10 crore and others up to Rs 50 crore.

Public sector banks, including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank, have already rolled out similar lines of credit for their customers to meet any liquidity mismatches.

Govt seeks tech-based proposals from Indian firms to curb Covid-19 pandemic

The Technology Development Board (TDB), a body under the Department of Science & Technology, has invited proposal from Indian companies to address protection and home-based respiratory intervention for Covid-19 patients, DST Secretary Ashutosh Sharma said on Sunday.
The proposal may include technologically innovative solutions like low-cost masks, cost-effective scanning devices, technologies for sanitisation of large areas as well as for contactless entry, rapid diagnostic kits and oxygenators, and ventilators.
Sharma said the DST is looking at low-cost masks which can capture virus from the air and absorb respiratory droplets, cost-effective thermal scanning, large area sanitisation and sterilisation (including electrostatic spray and Ultra Violet treatment for various available surfaces like glass, ceramic, wood, textile).

He said the DST is also looking at bioinformatics and surveillance, rapid and accurate diagnosis kit (paper-based and other point of care devices), Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IOT) solution for contact-less entry, low cost and portable oxygenators and ventilators (low-cost and portable).
"The TDB Board provides financial assistance by means of soft loans (up to 50 per cent of project cost at 5 per cent simple interest per annum, equity participation (up to a maximum of 25 per cent of the project cost) or grant in exceptional cases, for encouraging the commercial application of indigenously developed technology and for adapting imported technology to wider domestic application," a statement said.

The proposals have to be submitted on or before March 27.
On the other hand, several start-ups are also coming up with technology-driven solutions to identify cases and help the government track the movement of those who have been tested positive.
For example, Bengaluru-based Healthtech start-up Mfine has rolled out a coronavirus assessment feature which enables virtual medical consultation to assess patients who have flu-like symptoms.
Healthcare company Portea has developed a chatbot called Cobot-19 which will disseminate information related to coronavirus.

Bajaj Allianz too has rolled out an app with the Social Trackback feature, which is designed to help individuals maintain a real-time database of the people they have interacted in-person. The company claims this will help authorities track the details in case a user has been tested positive for the novel virus.

Coronavirus outbreak can now be classified as a pandemic, says WHO

Current Affairs
The new coronavirus episode would now be able to be depicted as a pandemic, the leader of the World Health Organization reported Wednesday.
WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was grieved by the spread and seriousness of the episode, alongside an absence of activity taken to battle it.
"WHO has been evaluating this episode nonstop and we're profoundly concerned, both by the disturbing degrees of spread and seriousness, and by the disturbing degrees of inaction," he told a news gathering in Geneva.
"We have along these lines made the evaluation that COVID-19 can be portrayed as a pandemic."
The quantity of cases in more than 100 nations around the globe has ascended to more than 124,000, with more than 4,500 passings, remembering a hop for fatalities in Iran and Italy specifically, as per an AFP count.
China remains the most noticeably terrible influenced nation with in excess of 80,000 affirmed cases and more than 3,000 passings. Tedros said that in the course of recent weeks, the quantity of cases outside China had expanded 13-overlay and the quantity of influenced nations had significantly increased.

He said he anticipated the quantity of cases and passings would develop in the coming days and weeks. "Pandemic isn't a word to utilize softly or recklessly," he told journalists, however he focused on that "depicting the circumstance as a pandemic doesn't change WHO's evaluation of the risk presented by the infection.".....Read More