Top headlines: Govt to borrow Rs 4.88-trn, PPF to fetch 7.1%, and more

From Centre allowing 100% rebate on PM-CARES fund, top 22 families losing Rs 22 trillion to vegetable markets coming back to life, Business Standard brings you top headlines of the day

Govt to borrow Rs 4.88 trn, 62.56% of gross target in April-Sept period

During the April-September period, the Centre will borrow Rs 4.88 trillion, or 62.56 per cent of the 2020-21 gross borrowing target of Rs 7.8 trillion, keeping the borrowing plans at the same level as FY20. Despite expectations from the government to borrow more due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre has assured that its borrowing programme is designed to meet every requirement from healthcare to economy. Read More...

PPF to fetch 7.1%, NSC 6.8% as govt cuts small savings interest rates

Small saving schemes like Public Provident Fund will fetch lower rates of return in the first quarter of FY21 as the government decides to facilitate banks to lower their rates. The move comes days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a rate cut of 75 basis points in its last Monetary Policy Meet. From this month, PPF scheme will give a 7.1% return instead of current 7.9% while national saving certificate (NSC) will provide 6.8% of return. Read More...

Covid-19: Centre allows 100% tax rebate for contributions to PM CARES

The government increased tax rebate on PM-CARES Fund from 50% to 100% and called for a slew of other measures like relief on GST filing, Vivad se Vishwas scheme among others. Read More...

Coronavirus lockdown: Vegetable, grain mandis limp back to normalcy

Vegetable markets across the nation came back to life a week after PM Modi announced 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the coronavirus. From Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi to West Bengal, markets registered daily arrivals of customers but arrivals of produce have not been the same with many farmers forced to dump their crops as the supply chain still remained disrupted due to lack of transports and labourers. Read More...

Coronavirus impact: Centre pushes ventilator firms to make 120K units

The government's demand for immediate supply of 120,000 ventilators has local manufacturers grappling to procure components. So, manufacturers are pairing up with automobile makers to meet the demand. Read More...

Smartphone market may remain flat in 2020 amid coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus outbreak is likely to hit the smartphone industry hard with analysts expecting lowest ever growth rate for this year. Analysts expect that smartphone sales will remain flat or will grow less than 5%. From lack of components to lockdown owes, the manufacturers have been affected badly while some hope for reviving their business in July. Read More...

Coronavirus outbreak: Top family firms lose Rs 22 trillion in m-cap

From Tata, Adani to Premji - top business families in India combined have lost Rs 22 trillion in market capitalisation in FY20 due to sharp sell-off triggered by the coronavirus. The biggest hit was borne by business groups with large exposure to financial services, followed by metals & mining and automobile sectors. Read More...

Covid-19: In essential items, e-commerce is no match to kirana stores

The kirana shops continued to be the top destination for essential items beating e-commerce platforms in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to global consultancy firm KSA, the e-commerce players take up a minuscule $2.5 bn in a $550 bn food and groceries industry. Read More...

Mobile internet usage increases just 10% since lockdown

Mobile internet usage across the metro cities and the nation has increased marginally. Only 10-12% increase on average since the lockdown announcement. Metro cities have registered lesser growth than the smaller circles which has seen 15% surge, contrary to telecom operators assertion of 20% rise in usage. The shift from HD to SD has a major role to play in the declining of demand, according to a report by the Economic Times.

Banks reach out to staff before merger

Ahead of the public sector bank mergers, managements of the banks are reaching out to the staff through remote-conferencing to respective zonal and branch offices to sort out glitches. The banks are functioning with bare number of staff and are relying on video-conferencing to communicate with employees and staff, reported Livemint.