States scramble as Railways restarts long-distance trains

States seem to be scrambling to put in place a policy to deal with incoming travelers from COVID-19 affected red zone states after the Indian Railways unexpectedly announced that it was restarting some long distance trains from tomorrow. Most states currently limit interstate travel by issuing special passes, so that the number of incoming travelers […]

Goa CM fears influx of infected tourists if lockdown lifted early

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today said that if the nationwide lock-down is lifted next week, his state would face an unwelcome situation of having to deal wtih Coronavirus-positive travelers from other parts of the country. His comments come in the wake of the Goan government urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday to extend the […]

Center waives need for prior approval in Essential Commodities Act

The central government has temporarily waived the need for states to seek its agreement for issuing orders under the Essential Commodities Act. With this, state governments can issue orders and directions under the act without first seeking the approval of the center till June 30. The Essential Commodities Act, passed in 1955, seeks to ensure […]

Supreme Court asks Karnataka to allow goods flow to Kerala

Supreme Court of India today refused to stay an order by Kerala High Court directing Karnataka to open all its roads to Kerala for essential traffic. Karnataka had, a week ago, closed all the major roads from Kasargode district in Kerala — a major Coronavirus hotspot with around 150 COVID-19 cases. Karnataka government dumped truckloads […]

Center wants states to include e-commerce, IT-BPO in essential services

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has requested all state governments to include IT and BPO employees, as well as e-commerce, in their list of essential services. Several state governments, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, have announced strict curbs on the movement of people and the functioning of shops […]

Godrej Properties buys 44-acre Faridabad plot from BPTP

Mumbai-based real estate developer Godrej Properties said it has acquired 43.61 hectares of land in Faridabad from real estate major BPTP for development. Financial details of the transaction were not announced. The plot will be home to Godrej Properties’ first development in Faridabad — a residential project with 95,000 square meters, or 1 million square […]

SpiceJet down 20%, Ajay Singh reassures investors

Ajay Singh, the entrepreneur who founded and currently heads budget airline SpiceJet, reassured investors and other stakeholders after his company’s stock fell 20% today as part of a broader market correction. Shares of SpiceJet were down Rs 12.05 at Rs 48.30 at close on the National Stock Exchange today. Shares of rival and market leader […]

Ration-card portability now available in 12 states

The facility of supporting ‘ration cards’ from out-of-state residents has been extended to 12 states in India, according to data from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. Ration cards in 12 states have been made interoperable with each other and holders of such cards can obtain food grains at subsidized rates from […]

Liquidity crunch continues to hurt NBFCs, GDP growth – Fitch

Operating conditions for Indian non-banking financial companies/institutions (NBFCs or NBFIs) have improved slightly in the first two months of 2020, however, uncertainty levels continue to be high for certain segments within the sector such as housing finance and wholesale lending, global ratings agency Fitch said in a note today. “The recent fundraising by a number […]