How states are getting back to work amid lockdown

Karnataka, Meghalaya, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and Haryana have partially resumed operations.

Several states are preparing to resume operations from May 4, with the decision on further extension of the lockdown still unknown.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announces permission for starting industrial activities in all areas, except containment zones, from May 4.

It has also allowed one-time movement of stranded people.

Meghalaya declares 10 of state’s 11 districts as ‘green zones’, allows inter-district movement.

Punjab resumes construction work on the Rs 2,700-crore Shahpurkandi dam project over Ravi river to stop outflow of water to Pakistan.

Gujarat and Rajasthan have allowed industrial and economic activity outside municipal areas.

Telangana has over the past couple of days authorised district collectors to allow economic activity in rural areas.

The activities include brick kilns, stone crushing units, rural repair workshops, beedi making, handloom, ginning mills, and plastic industries.

Haryana is looking at district-level strategy to start economic activity, 15 districts with less than 10 COVID cases to see industrial activity resume, in the rest seven districts, town and block level strategy to be followed.

• Coronavirus Attack

Uranium spot prices up amid production disruptions: Cameco

Cameco Corp. says spot uranium prices are up amid the production disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Saskatoon-based company says the uranium spot price has increased by more than 35 per cent since the company announced the first disruption at its Cigar Lake mine on March 23.

Tesla shares drop after Elon Musk tweets ‘stock price is too high’

Tesla shares took a dive after Elon Musk unleashed a bizarre Twitter rant on Friday morning, saying that the electric-car company’s “stock price is too high.”

“Tesla stock price is too high imo,” Tesla’s billionaire boss tweeted at 11:11 a.m. ET, sending shares in the Silicon Valley-based company, which were hovering slightly ahead of their opening price just before the tweets, down as much as 13 percent.

Just one minute earlier, Musk had tweeted, “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house.”

Tesla shares, which got a boost earlier this week when the company reported its third straight quarterly profit, were recently off nearly 12 percent at $690.

Musk, who has gotten into hot water with the feds before over stock-moving tweets, continued with what looked like his recent complaints about the coronavirus lockdown, which has lately forced Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., to shut down.

“Now give people back their FREEDOM,” Musk tweeted a few minutes later, proceeding to quote lyrics from the National Anthem in random order.

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” Musk wrote, then tweeting a minute later, “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave… and the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air.”

Musk in recent days has railed against the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, calling it “fascist” in a profanity-laced rant during the company’s quarterly earnings call earlier this week.

Coronavirus Cases In US Nears 1.1 Mln

The coronavirus pandemic has so far infected 1.07 million people in the United States and has taken lives of more than 62,000.

The total number of deaths have exceeded the number of deaths President Donald Trump had forecast for the entire outbreak. Earlier in April, the President had predicted that nearly 60,000 Americans would die during the entirety of the first wave of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Trump suspects China has released coronavirus in horrible lab ‘mistake’. Trump even suggested the release could have been intentional.

The outbreak could take nearly 73,000 US lives by August 4, compared with an earlier forecast of over 67,600, according to the University of Washington’s predictive model.

The pandemic has now killed more than 234,000 people worldwide with more than 3.3 million people been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The state of New York has turned out to be the epicenter of the deadly pandemic. The state alone has reported nearly 24,000 deaths.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo Friday said all New York’s schools, including public, private and colleges, would stay closed through the rest of the academic year.

“We must protect our children, students and educators,” Cuomo said.

Garment and made-up exporters to get ROSL arrears

DGFT to issue duty credit scrips worth ₹464 crore

Garment and made-up exporters who have Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) Scheme arrears will receive it in the form of scrips, according to a Department of Revenue communication.

The ROSL Scheme, which reimburses the State levies that garment and made-up exports incurred, was discontinued on March 7 last year and replaced with the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies scheme.

In order to clear pending claims under the ROSL scheme, ₹464.13 crore has been allocated for issue of duty credit scrips by the DGFT to exporters who have pending claims, according to the communication.

The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council has welcomed the move, while pointing out that exporters were in need of funds now and that the scrips would provide relief.

They can use it for imports too, if needed, according to the Council.

‘Biggest challenge’

Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman A. Sakthivel said the apparel export sector has been asking for release of the ROSL arrears. The present crisis is the biggest challenge faced by the apparel export industry, he added. With Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani facilitating release of pending benefits, exporters will stand to benefit, he said.