Best of BS Opinion: The economic fallout, coronavirus outbreak, and more

The sharp contraction in the core sector indicates the kind of damage Covid-19 and lockdowns are inflicting. Economic activity in the core sector declined by 6.5 per cent in March compared to a growth of 7.1 per cent in the previous month. The numbers for April will be much worse. Here is a summary of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day.

The IBC cannot be suspended for an extended period just because market conditions have become adverse. That is precisely when such a mechanism is needed to ensure that capital is not locked up but circulates and stays productive, notes our lead editorial Read here

Even as the government strives to shield the agriculture sector from the adverse fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak, another calamity of pandemic dimensions is threatening to attack India’s farmlands in the form of locust invasion, notes our second editorial Read here

Trade in services is likely to take longer to recover, with knock-on effects on other sectors, and the world could see more regulatory restrictions on services trade on health grounds, writes Anirudh Shingal Read here

Remote workers should also find ways to disengage from work at a time when the boundaries between work and home life are no longer clear, writes Shyamal Majumdar Read here

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“We need to open up in a measured way but as fast as possible so that people start having jobs. We don't have the capacity to support people across the spectrum for too long.”

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan