Business News Northeast - Latest Business Northeast News & Updates

25 Apr

Centre Gives Permit To Shops To Reopen But With Certain Conditions, Malls To Remain Closed.

editor0 CommentsBusiness

A month into the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, all shops in residential areas - except those in the malls - have been allowed to reopen from today with conditions by the government. The relaxations are not applicable to hotspots and containment zones. The Union Home Ministry's late night order - that says masks, gloves and adherence to social distancing norms will be mandatory - comes as a huge relief to the shopkeepers and buyers. However, with public transport still closed, employees of shops that can reopen could still find it tough to…

25 Apr

P Chidambaram’s Opinion On Franklin Templeton Shutting Funds.

editor0 CommentsBusiness

Former finance minister P Chidambaram has asked the centre to "act promptly" to stop any cascading effect of the unprecedented closure of six debt funds by global giant Franklin Templeton.Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, one of India's most prominent mutual fund houses in fixed income, said on Thursday it would wind up six credit funds in India with large exposures to higher-yielding, lower-rated credit securities due to a lack of liquidity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

25 Apr

Sonia Gandhi Writes Letter To The Prime Minister.

editor0 CommentsBusiness

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with five recommendations to help the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSME) sector amid the coronavirus pandemic. Mrs Gandhi said MSMEs contribute close to one-third to India's gross domestic product (GDP) and account for almost 50 per cent of the country's exports. The sector also employs over 11 crore people. But the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has put most economic activities to a halt and over 6.3 crore MSMEs "stand on the verge of economic ruin", Mrs Gandhi said in the letter.

24 Apr

Bandhan Bank Resumes Services Related To Small Loans.

editor0 CommentsBusiness

Bandhan Bank resumed its small business loan related services. The decision to resume the services has been taken keeping in mind the financial requirements of its customers who are involved in small businesses. The services will currently start at limited scale and with skeletal staff, to cater to customer needs. The bank has been operating its branches even during the lockdown with limited staff strength. However, the loan services to small business were not operational. These services have selectively resumed from April 20, in only identified Green Zones. This decision has been made keeping in mind the financial needs of…

23 Apr

India’s GDP To Shrink.

editor0 CommentsBusiness

As India remains in a 40-day nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, trapping an already-slowing economy a standstill, economists and industry experts are estimating sub-1 per cent expansion rates. Some are even expecting a contraction for the country's GDP. The latest estimates by some economists and certain industry experts shows how gloomy India's economy on account of the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, which continues to harm many businesses worldwide. Though even before the country began the COVID-19 lockdown, the economy stared at its worst pace of expansion since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

22 Apr

Coronavirus Is Impacting Job Placements

editor0 CommentsBusiness

Jobs offered to six students of Indian Institute of Technology in Madras have been revoked by companies due to the pandemic, but the institute - ranked number one under the Education Ministry's overall institutions category and engineering institutions category – says there have been no cancellations of overseas job offers.The highly contagious coronavirus pandemic, which has infected over 2.5 million people worldwide, has had a massive impact on the global economy. Growth rates have plunged, millions have lost jobs and offers made in healthier and happier times are now being reconsidered.The contagion has also not spared the graduates of India's…

17 Apr

The RBI cut its reverse repo rate by 25 basis points

editor0 CommentsBusiness

The Reserve Bank of India cut its key deposit rate for the second time in three weeks on Friday to discourage banks for parking idle funds with it and push them toward lending to revive the economy amid the coronavirus lockdown. The RBI cut its reverse repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.75 per cent with immediate effect, as said by governor Shaktikanta das through a video conference. The rate had already been cut by 90 bps on March 27.

16 Apr

India Fast-Tracks COVID-19 Fighting Drug Supplies To UAE

editor0 CommentsBusiness, Health

India is fast-tracking procedures to supply hydroxychloroquine, a drug considered to be efficient in fighting the coronavirus, to the UAE after a request from the country's government, media reports here quoted the Indian envoy as saying.India's Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor said there is a huge demand for the anti-malarial drug from many countries and India is considering it on a case to case basis."As the drug is on the restricted list, we are obviously giving exception to the UAE, given the friendly relations between the two countries," Khaleej Times quoted Kapoor as saying.

16 Apr

Centre Sets Foodgrain Production Target At Record 298.3 Million Tons For 2020-21 Crop Year

editor0 CommentsBusiness, Lifestyle

The agriculture ministry aims to increase foodgrain production by 6.35 million tonnes to record 298.3 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year riding high on hopes of normal monsoon.The foodgrain output in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June) is estimated at an all-time high 291.95 million tonnes, as per the second advance estimates released by the ministry in February."IMD has forecast the June to September southwest monsoon rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be normal. This augurs well for rain-fed kharif crops," Agriculture Commissioner SK Malhota said at a national level video conference organised to plan for…

15 Apr

Pandemic could trigger social unrest in some countries: IMF

editor0 CommentsBusiness, Health, Lifestyle

New waves of social unrest could erupt in some countries if government measures to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic are seen as insufficient or unfairly favoring the wealthy, the IMF said in a new report on Wednesday. Governments had already spent nearly $8 trillion to combat the pandemic and mitigate the economic fallout, but more fiscal stimulus would be needed once the crisis abated, the global lender said in its semi-annual Fiscal Monitor. The spike in spending would sharply widen fiscal deficits, with global public debt set to rise 13 percentage points to more than 96% of gross domestic product in…