Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help through the coronavirus lockdown will be announced very soon. 

She said the last date for filing of income tax return for the financial year has been extended to June 30. Also, the interest rate on delayed payment has been cut to 9 per cent from 12 per cent. The government has also extended the last date for linking PAN with unique biometric ID Aadhaar to June 30.

The finance ministry waived minimum bank charges for savings bank accounts to help citizens deal with the lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis. Also, free of charge cash withdrawal from any other bank ATM allowed for debit card holders for three months, Sitharaman said. 

To help small companies facing the threat of defaults due to lockdown, the government raised the threshold that would trigger insolvency proceedings to Rs 1 crore from current Rs 1 lakh. This raising of the threshold will help small and medium enterprises, the minister said.

Also, the government will consider suspending Sections 7, 9, 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for six months if the current economic situation continues beyond April, she said, adding this would help companies being forced into insolvency on default of loans. 

The government also extended the deadline for filing GST returns for March-May to June 30. On late filing of GST returns, no late fee, penalty or interest will be charged for companies with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore.

Death toll rises to 10 in India

Coronavirus cases crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre asked the states and Union Territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

As 32 states and Union Territories announced complete lockdown till March 31 to deal with the pandemic, authorities are taking a serious view of  people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely crucial to contain the spread of the viral infection. Punjab, Maharashtra and Puducherry have already declared curfew in their respective areas. Maharashtra has accounted for 101 of the total 492 cases followed by Kerala (91).

Northeast region reports first infection

A 23-year-old woman tested positive for the coronavirus in Manipur, the first confirmed case in the Northeast, a top state health department official said. The woman, a resident of Thangmeiband Lourung Purel Leikai area in Imphal West district, had recently returned from the UK, a statement said. Manipur has been placed under lockdown from Monday till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sensex bounces back after historic rout

A day after the historic rout, equity benchmark Sensex bounced back to close 693 points higher on March 24 as investors noted governments across the world taking prompt economic measures to offset the financial damage from the Covid-19 pandemic. The BSE barometer gave up some gains to end 692.79 points at 26,674.03. Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 190.80 points at 7,801.05. 

The Indian stock market suffered its worst-ever single-day crash on March 23 as panicked investors remained in sell-off mode. The BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted 3,935 points to close at 25,981.24, while the NSE barometer Nifty cracked 1,135.20 points to settle at 7,610.25. On the currency front, the Indian rupee plunged below the 76-level for the first time.

EC defers Rajya Sabha polls 

The Election Commission has deferred the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for March 26 in view of the coronavirus outbreak, an official statement said. Election to fill up 55 seats in the Upper House of Parliament was to be held on March 26, but 37 candidates from 10 states have already been elected without a contest. The decision on holding the election for the remaining 18 seats from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan will be taken based on the prevailing situation, the statement said. 

ICMR advises use of hydroxy-chloroquine for health workers

ICMR director general Balram Bhargava advised the use of hydroxy-chloroquine for health workers engaged in the medicare of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases and the asymptomatic household contacts of lab-confirmed cases to shield them from the infection. The treatment protocol recommended by the National Task Force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for its restricted use in emergency situations. The IMCR said it has recommended two RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test kits for use in ICMR-approved government and private laboratories. These test kits have been found to have 100 per cent concordance among true positive and true negative samples. Following the permission to private laboratories to conduct tests for the Covid-19 infection, 12 private laboratory chains have already been registered and have started working. These 12 labs have about 15,000 collection centres around the country and more laboratory chains are being added.

Anti-CAA protesters removed from Shaheen Bagh

People protesting against the citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh and other places were removed by the Delhi Police on March 24 amid the coronavirus lockdown in the national capital, officials said. A total of nine protesters including six women were detained at Shaheen Bagh and taken to a nearby police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) R.P. Meena said. The agitators, mostly women, had been on a sit-in at the site for over three months to protest the newly amended Citizenship Act. People were requested to vacate the site as a lockdown has been imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, action was taken when refused to move, Meena said.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store