Lockdown 5.0: Indian economy has come to a standstill

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May 31, 2020

The battle to coronavirus pandemic is likely to result in huge job losses, pay cuts and freeze on hiring over the next few quarters, thereby giving blues to India’s already distressed employment story. The casual laborer has lost their income. The service industry like transports, hospitality, maintenance have been shut totally. Manufacturing industries have shut down their operations. Agriculturists are not able to market their produce. Government’s revenue has fallen deep. So, the economy is in a frozen stage. Students are not able to prepare themselves for their future careers. The cost of initiating all the above activities after the lock down period is high and it depends on how well the virus is contained and the people’s preparedness to resume their work. Migrant laborer will find relocation very costly and risky. People would be scared to re-engage them when they return from their home to work. This is biggest matter of concern.

China where unemployment rate in January was 5% and then immediately climbed up to more than 6% in February due to their lockdown of almost 2 months. While in similar context India is in far better position presently where so far people are able to bare this locking period. Arguably in Metropolitans situations are pitiful where larger areas are flooded by labors and workers and drivers which might find this lockdown as biggest threat to their daily expenditures. Indian economy greatly falls down, small businesses collapsed, Indian tourism effected, Govt exams and interviews are delayed. India is already going through a 21-day lockdown period and people are already not cooperating with the government. Small companies finding it difficult to pay salaries for people sitting at home. also, the industrialists / manufacturing units / productions / import / export is finding it difficult to breath because if there is no business. There is no resource and everything has stand still. Extension of lockdown would be required if Corona virus pandemic is out of control. But this extension will break the moral of people, they will prefer to risk their life over survival. Poorer people, daily wages labor, small business persons, would face major problems. Government has to gear up to tackle the above problem. Because it may give rise to situation robbing shops. People will bash each other for money, the crime rate will go up. Even before the lockdown, which began on March 25, the country’s economy suffered from a prolonged period of slowing growth. For the financial year 2019-20, official estimates peg the annual expansion rate of GDP at 5 per cent – the slowest since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

It is a harsh reality but the economic impact of Coronavirus would claim more lives compared to medical/healthcare reasons of coronavirus. The Indian stock market has lost more than 35% of its value over the last 30 days. There has been a constant outflow of funds outside of India, which does not auger well, both in short and long-term. Several departments within the Ministry of Finance (MoF), India- the epicenter of the Indian Economy financial decision making- has been shut down. This impacts policy planning. There have been a deluge of reports, which say that we have entered/will enter recession soon.

If India too witnesses several cases of community transmission of Coronavirus, our Economy would have severe repercussions. In the short-term, there will be extensive lockdown periods and a significant loss of life. In a country like India, where the population density is extremely high, the virus is likely to grow exponentially, if not controlled in the initial stages. One must understand that in India a large part of our Corporate Sector has extensive debts and Banks have NPAs. Short-term economic damage can result in debt crisis, which can have far reaching long-term implications for our economy. Thereafter, a general sense of instability would persist for several years to come. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, this is not a systemic failure of Governance/Financial Institutes. In short: The picture is not rosy, but at the same time, unnecessary fear mongering is not helpful. The problem is grave only if the situation escalates. Nations are built by the collective conscience of people. Now is the time to stand up and do your part.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Cops got compromised to COVID-19: All is not well with the Khaki of Maharashtra

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Afternoon Voice

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May 31, 2020

Covid-19 has challenged all those people who were front runners, 91 more Maharashtra cops test positive in 24 hours on Sunday, taking tally in state police department to 2,416. The total tally includes 183 police officers and 1,238 policemen. Total 26 cops have died due to coronavirus in the Maharashtra police department. There was no adequate safety, long working hours, constant public contact and no facilities on patrolling booths most vulnerable were Mumbai police.

Amid this threat many SRPF jawans refused to resume on duty. The Vanrai police have registered a FIR against 17 jawans of Maharashtra State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) posted in the city for not turning up for duty in the city during the lockdown.

All of them have been already put under suspension by the SRPF for remaining absent. According to the complaint filed by SRPF official attached with group 8, owing to the lockdown due to the outbreak of a COVID-19 virus, the disaster management act has been imposed in the state.

When Afternoon Voice managed to speak to SRPF Jawan, he told under the condition of anonymity, “No one is scared of termination or action taken against them, rather we were very much scared when deployed at various risky zones without safety guards. All those who skipped their duties, have reason to do so. We are also human and government should treat us like human.”

The SRPF is a disciplined force and is working for maintaining law and order in the state. The 17 jawans attached with group 8 of the SRPF have been absent without permission of the senior officials in written and few have not resumed duty even after their leave got over. The complainant states that even after issuing the jawans notice to join the duty repeatedly, they did not do so.

Hence, 17 jawans were suspended as per the protocol. The orders of their suspension have been sent to the concerned jawan via WhatsApp.
However, even after suspension, they did not present themselves at the SRPF group’s headquarters for inquiry as per the protocol. Hence, the orders of registering a FIR have been given.

“The jawans have remained absent on duty and did not join the duty even after the notices were issued to them and hence the officials were suspended and as per the protocol. After the suspension, the jawans were supposed to be present at the SRPF headquarters. However, the jawans did not present themselves at the headquarters and hence action is being taken against them, “said an SRPF official.

The FIR has been registered against them under section 14 (deserting the force) of Maharashtra SRPF Act, section 145 (failure to return to duty after leave) of Maharashtra Police Act and Section 56 in the Disaster Management Act (Failure of an officer in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provisions of this Act).

Lockdown 5 – Still no respite to the common man’s plight

By

Vaidehi Taman

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May 29, 2020

The lockdown is going to extend further for 5th time, people have already gone hopeless and clueless, and no one knows where to go from here. The government did not bother about its impact on common man, migrant workers and daily wagers. Ironically on one hand all the MPs and MLA’s got a hike in their salaries amid these crises in spite of holding all riches and hardly doing anything for the people at large. On the other hand, the commoners are fighting for one meal and survival but the government turned its back by being a mute spectator. The Centre declared the lockdown and imposed other harsh measures without consulting any of the State governments. Just like announcing demonetization, without any clue and survival support, people were thrown out to battle various challenges. Many lost their lives then and many continue losing their lives even today. The anarchy and confusion were foreseeable. No one knows what this government is up to and what this Prime Minister is actually doing? Cores of funds raised to battle the crises, people with large heart rendered donations, cores of rupees were taken as loan from banks in the name of COVID crises and economic revival, but nothing has changed on the ground and no solutions have reached to grass root level. The common man is dying not only with coronavirus but also lockdown-induced sufferings.

Unfortunate migrant laborers had nowhere to go, nothing to eat and none to look to for any help. The lockdown reminds one of this government’s colossal failures such as demonetization and flawed GST implementation. With India already grappling with an economic slowdown and job losses, COVID-19 has struck at the most unfortunate time and the inept insensitive handling by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government has only worsened the situation. As always, the downtrodden sections of the society have had to bear the brunt of it and suffer the worst time in their lives. Doctors, nurses, health workers and police personnel too have had to suffer a lot since the country was not prepared for this tragedy. After the lockdown, it will take months to get the workforce back, and streamline the machinery. There will also be a rush to complete pending projects. Migrants have completely lost faith; they became hopeless and shattered. Asking them to resume is another catastrophe because of the lack of basic humane treatment; they are so scared of present circumstances.

Likewise, in the extreme scenarios now painted, there seems to be no hope for many businesses like media houses, travel and hospitality segments. They will be unfortunately annihilated with job losses, bankruptcies and shutdowns. There are tens of thousands of people stranded across the globe, home or away, at their origins or midway. There will also be untold thousands who would now wish to visit their family after not having been able to be with them in times of deep uncertainty. People may be afraid of travel, but they may also want to move, as if freed from a prison. Post-lockdown, the sales of air tickets may zoom, as may their prices; the related spike in demand may shore up the hospitality sector too. The situation in agriculture is more intricate. The overall amount of work that needs to be done is, roughly speaking; constant within a short time frame but this is a dynamic and mobile field of employment that faces unique bottlenecks now.

At this juncture, the government may show any maturity, but people are wise enough to understand the intent. The farmers who are felt cheated are now not in a position to take the given opportunity of free-flow as they have lost faith in the government policies and indifferent approach to the serious requirements and contribution of the farming sector. As their work is dependent on the seasons and nature’s timings, it’s very critical certain farming activities are done at the right time to reap any fruitful result. Right now, they know that there is no point as even if they slog in farms, there would be more surprises and added challenges until the crop matures. Farming has become a very complex issue as the lockdown has destroyed tons of fresh produce as it was left to rot due to a lack of harvesting labour permissions.

Many prominent media houses have sanctioned layoffs or mandatory leave without pay. While The Indian Express and Business Standard newspapers have announced pay cuts, others are also taking steps to curb costs. On April 10, 15 employees of News Nation, a Hindi news national channel were asked to leave with immediate effect. On April 13, the digital news website ‘The Quint’ asked about 45 employees to go on indefinite leave without pay. The organization faced “a truly unprecedented situation” in these circumstances, it is clear that our revenues will be under severe strain over the next 3-4 months. Times Life, the Sunday supplement of the Times of India has also asked its employees to leave on April 13. Travel restrictions, including in India are paralyzing the hospitality sector too. The coronavirus scare has crippled the sector completely. In March, India’s merchandise exports shrunk by a record 34.6% while imports declined 28.7% as countries sealed their borders to combat the virus. Like the hospitality industry, the export sector too is demanding the government to intervene to save it from the massive crisis. Over 1.5 crore people in India could lose their jobs in the wake of gloomy global trade trends due to Covid-19, predicted the industry body. The sectors that are heavily dependent on exports are apparel, gems, jeweller, handicrafts, engineering among others. The apparel export sector alone estimates 2.5-3 million job losses because of order cancellations.

The unemployment tracker survey released by Centre for the Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE), the only data source of its kind that reports unemployment on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis. The national coffers seem to get empty by the day but still no respite to the common man plight, as there are no legitimate signs of an economic revival put into action on the ground level. Shallow promises of care cannot be the only solution, as the ground reality of most Indian’s sadly begs to differ.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Lockdown 5 to be announced on Sunday

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Afternoon Voice

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May 29, 2020

Lockdown 4 comes to an end on 31st May and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had already hinted at extending lockdown in Maharashtra beyond May 31. “We can’t say that lockdown will be over by 31st May. We will have to see how we will go forward. The coming time is crucial as multiplication of virus is picking up. I want to assure the medical fraternity that we are with them in all ways”, he stated in his video message to people.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in India has climbed to 1,65,799, making it the world’s ninth worst hit country by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Worldoeter, India has now overtaken Turkey as the ninth worst hit country in terms of total number of cases. Some states have already extended the virus lockdown and “nothing stops them from taking any further steps on their own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Home Minister Amit Shah and senior officials to discuss the way forward as the coronavirus lockdown, extended thrice, ends on Sunday. A decision is likely tomorrow on whether to extend the restrictions amid the steady rise in virus cases, given the need to reopen economic activity.

States like Karnataka have demanded the reopening of religious centres, which, the sources say, will need a political call. Religious places and gatherings, which draw huge crowds and challenge attempts to enforce physical distancing, have stayed banned since the country went into lockdown in late March.

Amit Shah spoke to various Chief Ministers and asked for feedback on a plan after lockdown4 ends on Sunday. All Chief Ministers have given their views on how they want to move forward. Over the last few days, the Prime Minister’s Office has also reviewed the entire lockdown period and the trend of virus cases and deaths. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, after his conversation with Shah, claimed a possibility of the lockdown being extended by two more weeks.

The government has been concerned about sharp criticism of its strategy to counter coronavirus, which has pushed it to change its stance on several occasions.

The government’s options include staying with the National Disaster Management Act, which empowers the Centre to take all the decisions regarding health, which is a state subject. During the last extension of the lockdown, the government had allowed many relaxations, leaving it to states to decide on what to reopen and what stays shut.

“After the 31st we have some relaxations in mind, depending on the instructions from Narendra Modi. If the Hon’ble Prime Minister wants to extend the lockdown, we have to observe that”, said Maharashtra’s Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil. While Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been cautious (in the wake of increasing number of COVID-19 cases) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is in favour of granting some relaxations.

Know-Your-Customer (KYC) frauds on rise in Mumbai

By

Afternoon Voice

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May 28, 2020

During lockdown people have been totally depend on making e-payments, using net banking or e-wallets to pay for essentials, KYC frauds are flourishing. Cyber burglars are taking advantage of the situations and cheating people. In two different occurrences of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) frauds at Oshiwara and Powai, senior citizens were conned of lakhs of rupees. cyber fraudsters have started ‘calling’ home under the pretext of updating debit/credit card information and trapping victims. Looking at the rising number of KYC frauds, Maharashtra Cyber Cell has issued an advisory.

The advisory says “Never share any information with anyone claiming to be from PayTM or any other e-wallet company. Never install apps like Anydesk, Teamviewer, Quicksupport etc until you know about them. These apps can give the fraudster access to your phones. Never click on suspicious links and delete such messages immediately. PayTM Full KYC can only be completed by a face-to-face meeting with an agent at an authorised PayTM KYC point. In case of doubt, reach out to PayTM customer support from the PayTM App on your phone.”

Beenu Arora, a Global Cybersecurity Expert and CEO of US-based Cyber Intelligence company Cyble told Afternoon Voice, “The recent data breaches have exposed personal records of millions of users personal information on the darkweb. Cyble in the last 1 month has disclosed over 100 million records related to the Indian audiences. Cyber criminals are continually in the lookout for such personal information to conduct various nefarious activities including banking and telephone scams. We recommend people to stay vigilant and maintain good cyber hygiene such as never share personal information, including financial information over the phone, email or SMSs. Use strong passwords and enforce multi-factor authentication where possible. Regularly monitor your financial transaction, if you notice any suspicious transaction, contact your bank immediately. Cyble offers a handy service called AmiBreached.com – a data breach monitoring and notification service. Retail users can utilise this platform to ascertain their exposure in the deepweb and darkweb.”

Recently a resident of Powai, 75-year-old Ramesh Bhatia, received a call from a man posing as the representative of an e-wallet company, PayTM. The conman sought all the details of Mehta on the pretext of updating the KYC on his account, telling the gentleman that his account would be suspended otherwise. Bhatia was alarmed by the prospect of his account being suspended and provided details of his Bank of Baroda account, by mentioning the account number and the debit card details on a form sent by the impostors and ended up losing Rs 1.80 lakh in the next couple of minutes.

In another incidence Oshiwara-based senior citizen lost Rs 1.55 lakh to a similar con, also the modus operandi was similar in both the cases. Both these cases fraudsters used same trick of calling the user and trapping them into sharing their confidential information, following which the victim received a link. Once the user opens the link and enters their One-Time Password (OTP), a huge amount of money is siphoned off within minutes, which is what happened to the Oshiwara resident.

In Mumbai’s Borivali East area a teacher got conned in similar way but she hardly had any amount in her wallet so got saved for, getting coned with huge hard-earned amount.

Ajit Hatti, an Ethical Hacker and Cyber Security Personnel told Afternoon Voice that, “The various Payment and Wallet service companies should start educating the users by push notification or in app alerts that Please do not share your Credit/Debit card details with anyone. We do NOT call any one to complete KYC, we do not threaten any one to close their account. NEVER share any OTP with anyone else.” The companies cannot be oblivion to ever increasing frauds and not educate people. Each OTP SMS should have the warning stating not to share it with others and must make account take overs multi step process at each step of which User should be made aware that he is making a transfer of a particular amount to a person, if they don’t intend to do this you can cancel it. “Every time a person opens the APP, user should be made aware of possible frauds, be assured they are not getting tricked and only then proceed with any transaction they want. The design should allow these “educative feature” to be disabled for advanced users. But are a must for the large vulnerable population who is yet to catch up with the digital payments.”

Cybercrime and Banking crimes are not new to people. Such type of cybercrimes has been trending since the past year and has grown apace. People need to be very much smart and alert while sharing their credentials.

Cybercrime is on rise in India and cops have edges in detection

By

Vaidehi Taman

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May 28, 2020

Need, joblessness, frustration, stress and greed open the doors to cybercrime. Social media is playing an emergent role in cybercrime this year. Not only does cybercrime leave a mark financially, but it also has a significant impact on an organization’s services, reliability, and reputation in the eyes of the public, shareholders, and even your own employees. Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

Same has recently happened with a Mumbai resident Ayan Khan, he was sent a link by an agency calming to give him job. He provided them all the personal and bank details, with in no time his account was emptied. He is running pins to polls but dictation of cybercrime takes lot of time. In such crime, hacker’s e-mail directs the user to visit a web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers that the legitimate organization already has. The website, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information. By spamming large groups of people, the phisher counted on the e-mail being read by a percentage of people who actually had listed credit card numbers with legitimately.

Cybercrimes in India almost doubled in 2017, according to statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The data comes in the backdrop of India aspiring to become a trillion-dollar digital economy. Interestingly, cybercrimes accounted for less than a percentage (0.43%) or 21,796 cases of a total of 50, 07,044 cognizable crimes in 2017. In 2019 these crimes have gone up by 20 percent. When a crime happens, we all want cops to act swiftly but there are limitations. Cybercrimes against children and women account for about 30 per cent and are growing at 100 per cent every year. Phishing has also on raise, little negligence and you get looted. Of late people have started reporting such crimes; in most case, the accused is known to the victim. Cases of cybercrimes have increased in the last five years.

Significantly, the Centre has been focusing, during this period, on improving internet penetration in the country. Offenders are now using technology to get close to targets. From job traps to rapes to child trafficking to selling contraband (drugs) near schools and colleges, these predators befriend their targets mostly on social media. Most cases go undetected as multinational internet giants and social media companies refuse to share information with the police. In most cases, it takes a lot of time just to get the information as the police and cyber cell officials need to trace the IP addresses and get hold of the devices (laptops, computers, mobile phones etc), involved in the crime. In most cases, the IPs is located in some other country. Technology evolution and innovation make it more challenging to detect cyber-crimes. Information sharing between countries and within the country needs to be strengthened. The low detection of cybercrimes is also due to lack of technical knowledge among the police staff and that there should be more training centres and courses so that they can upgrade themselves.

With the Centre scrambling to fortify India’s cyber operations amid growing warnings of malware attacks on personal and organizational devices, intelligence and cyber law experts have said much like crimes against women, India suffers from dismal under-reporting of cybercrimes. India recorded 9,622, 11,592 and 12,317 cases of cybercrime in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. The data for 2017 comes after a two-year delay, with the Centre blaming states for the delay in providing statistics for compilation. With the Centre setting up the NIC-CERT–National Informatics Centre-Computer Emergency Response Team–to combat cybercrimes and the home ministry proposing to set up the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the government is hoping to beef up India’s cyber security network. The advancement of technology has made man dependent on Internet for all his needs. Internet has given man easy access to everything while sitting at one place.

Social networking, online shopping, storing data, gaming, online studying, online jobs, every possible thing that man can think of can be done through the medium of internet. Internet is used in almost every sphere. With the development of the internet and its related benefits also developed the concept of cybercrimes. Cybercrimes are committed in different forms. A few years back, there was lack of awareness about the crimes that could be committed through internet.

In the matters of cybercrimes, India is also not far behind the other countries where the rate of incidence of cybercrimes is also increasing day by day. There are millions of websites; all hosted on servers abroad, that offer online gambling. In fact, it is believed that many of these websites are actually fronts for money laundering. Cases of hawala transactions and money laundering over the Internet have been reported. Whether these sites have any relationship with drug trafficking is yet to be explored.

Recent Indian case about cyber lotto was very interesting. A man called Kola Mohan invented the story of winning the Euro Lottery. He himself created a website and an email address on the Internet with the address ‘eurolottery@usa.net.’ Whenever accessed, the site would name him as the beneficiary of the 12.5 million pounds. After confirmation a Telugu newspaper published this as a news. He collected huge sums from the public as well as from some banks for mobilization of the deposits in foreign currency. However, the fraud came to light when a cheque discounted by him with the Andhra Bank for Rs 1.73 million bounced. Mohan had pledged with Andhra Bank the copy of a bond certificate purportedly issued by Midland Bank, Sheffield’s, London stating that a term deposit of 12.5 million was held in his name. This connotes the usage by an unauthorized person of the Internet hours paid for by another person.

In May 2000, the economic offences wing, IPR section crime branch of Delhi police registered its first case involving theft of Internet hours. In this case, the accused, Mukesh Gupta an engineer with Nicom System (p) Ltd. was sent to the residence of the complainant to activate his Internet connection. However, the accused used Col. Bajwa’s login name and password from various places causing wrongful loss of 100 hours to Col. Bajwa. Delhi police arrested the accused for theft of Internet time.

On further inquiry in the case, it was found that Krishan Kumar, son of an ex-army officer, working as senior executive in M/s Highpoint Tours & Travels had used Col Bajwa’s login and passwords as many as 207 times from his residence and twice from his office. He confessed that Shashi Nagpal, from whom he had purchased a computer, gave the login and password to him. The police could not believe that time could be stolen. They were not aware of the concept of time-theft at all.

The Commissioner of Police, Delhi then took the case into his own hands and the police under his directions raided and arrested Krishan Kumar under sections 379, 411, 34 of IPC and section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act. In another case, the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police arrested a computer engineer who got hold of the password of an Internet user, accessed the computer and stole 107 hours of Internet time from the other person’s account. He was booked for the crime by a Delhi court during May 2000. Cops are solving the cases with are local and have some clues but from unknown attacks, one needs patience and cops need lot of time and leg work. Only thing that can prevent you is be smart while sharing your details online.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Congress’ Surjewala moves SC seeking to intervene in migrants’ plight issue

By

Afternoon Voice

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May 27, 2020

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the matter in which the apex court on its own has taken cognisance of the “unfortunate and miserable” plight of migrant labourers stranded across the country due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Surjewala, an official spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC), has said in his plea that the government should set up facilitation centres and facilities at the district and village levels based on the information about hardships faced by the migrant labourers.

He said he wanted to apprise the top court of “certain pertinent measures” that may be considered by the Centre in order to alleviate the plight of migrant labourers, stranded or travelling long distances with great difficulty due to the lockdown.

“Further, due to failure of the Government of India to formulate any joint committee with the opposition political parties for addressing issues of stranded migrant labourers, the Government of India has been unable to consider the measures suggested by the applicant (Surjewala) and the opposition party or any member of Parliament not belonging to the ruling dispensation,” said the plea, settled by senior advocate A M Singhvi.

Surjewala, in the plea filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes, has suggested that the Centre immediately set up reception and facilitation centres at district and village levels for receiving labourers and facilitating further travel to their native districts or villages.

The plea said: “At present there is no nationwide action plan qua the stranded migrant labourers.

To identity and accurately tally the total number of migrant labourers who continue to be stranded, the Government of India needs to carry out an exercise at the district and village level to prepare these lists immediately.

” It said that the Centre needs to formulate a nationwide action plan on the basis of information being provided by the labourers regarding the hardship faced and the facilities or actions which helped them during their journey.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan had Tuesday taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the plight of migrant labourers stranded across the country and had said that they need “succour and help by the concerned governments” with regard to free food and shelter.

The top court had issued notices to the Centre, all states and Union Territories and sought their replies on the issue by May 28, when the matter is scheduled to be heard.

The development had come a day after several renowned lawyers had written a letter, which was e-mailed to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, highlighting the plight of migrants workers.

In his application filed in the top court, Surjewala has said, “In view of the fact that stranded migrant labourers have sporadic access to food, medicine and shelter and are presently dependent on largesse of private individuals for the same, the Government of India should immediately formulate a scheme to provide adequate food, medicine and shelter to the stranded migrant labourers.

” It said that certain financial reliefs regarding migrant labourers have already been announced by the Centre and those should be implemented on an “urgent and immediate basis” and a public announcement detailing timelines and step-wise procedure of its release should be shared.

It said the Centre should formulate urgent and immediate schemes for providing gainful employment to the migrant labourers, with additional and specific schemes which take into consideration the education of their migrant children and well being of family members.

Surjewala, who is also a member of the core committee constituted by the Congress to aid and assist the Centre in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, has said the government should immediately launch awareness campaigns for migrant workers to explain all benefits being provided to alleviate their plight and struggles during the lockdown.

In its order taking cognisance of the plight of migrant workers, the apex court had said, “The adequate transport arrangement, food and shelters are immediately to be provided by the Centre and State Governments free of costs”.

Although the Centre and states have taken measures to provide them relief, there have been “inadequacies and certain lapses”, the court had observed.

It had referred to various media reports showing the “unfortunate and miserable conditions” of migrant labourers walking on-foot and cycles from long distances.

The top court had said that the “crises of migrant labourers are even continuing today with large sections still stranded on roads, highways, railway stations and State borders.

” Earlier, the top court had disposed of the PIL seeking migrant workers’ welfare during the pandemic and consequential lockdown saying that the Centre and states are taking appropriate steps to provide them relief.

Mumbai finally restored to home delivery of liquor

By

Afternoon Voice

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May 27, 2020

One in two orders placed for home deliveries of alcohol in Maharashtra came from Mumbai this week. While a total of 49,373 orders were placed, senior excise department officials claimed, 24,615 were from Mumbai alone. Mumbai has forbidden counter sales of liquor to avoid big crowds outside beer and wine shops. It was also one of the last districts to permit home deliveries of liquor. While the state had first permitted home deliveries from May 15 onwards, the Mumbai civic body allowed it in both the island city and suburbs only three days ago. According to Excise Department’s statistics, 3,062 orders were placed across Mumbai on May 23, the first day of sales after it was permitted. The numbers rose to 18,964 on May 24 and further grew to 24,615 Monday. Mumbai has 1,190 retail liquor stores in all. By Monday evening, 424 out of these or 36 per cent of licensed shops had commenced home deliveries after acquiring necessary permissions.

The department is expecting most of the stores situated outside the 600-odd containment zones to avail the option in the coming days. “There are conditions that a store owner must meet before permitting home deliveries. Senior Excise Department’s official said ““We expect home deliveries to further pick up during the week with more stores expected to start sales, this includes getting all the delivery staff medically screened and obtaining identification cards for them from the department”.

On expected lines, the home delivery option has been more popular in the bigger cities. According to the officials, a bulk of the 3,31,655 orders placed since May 15 have stemmed from urban neighborhoods. After the initial rush outside stores, department also said that social-distancing measures outside liquor stores are being implemented more effectively. Meanwhile, Bar owners have requested custody of their liquor licence for the current financial year on payment of 10% of the licence fees as they say they do not foresee any business till March after re-opening their establishments once the lockdown conditions are relaxed.

They wrote a letter stating the situation was likely to force 35% of restaurants to close. The bar owners said they would not even be able to recover the annual licence fees, which starts at Rs 8 lakh, as their business would be limited to a certain level of takeaway orders till a Covid-19 vaccine is developed and brings confidence among consumers. The letter addressed to commissioner Kantilal Umap said the bar owners would do their best to ensure sanitation by reducing seating and by introducing gloves, masks and sanitisers but the consumers might take a long time to come back in full force.

Mumbai spirited with Liquor supply back to door steps

By

Vaidehi Taman

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May 27, 2020

Thought the liquor home delivery started in Mumbai and the huge orders are placed from city, but in spite of ban liquor availability of any brand, at any place and at any time was possible in city even earlier. With liquor counter sales commencing first from May 4 onwards, department has, so far, earned Rs 292.15 crore in tax revenues. Before the state went into lockdown in March, the state was earning an average daily income of Rs 40 crore from excise revenue. Mumbai has disallowed counter sales of liquor to avoid big crowds outside beer and wine shops. It was also one of the last districts to permit home deliveries of liquor.

During lockdown when liquor and cigarette shops were closed, the business of the same went up. Many bar owners and shopkeepers delivered liquor on high demand with high prices. Imagine, if dry cities like Gujarat and Bihar can have flow of alcohol in the states, how can city like Mumbai even imagine that people will not have access to the same.

Mumbai, a Covid-19 hotspot, with booze loving people ridiculed all the norms. Somehow the delivery was done to the carvers. Remember, alcohol is one thing which one can buy or bribe even authorities. The nationwide lockdown has also forced tipplers in the city to shell out a lot of money to buy liquor in the black market. Liquor shops had downed their shutters since the nationwide lockdown started on March 25 but their back doors were operational. For instance, a regular whiskey bottle usually available for say Rs 1,000 is sold in the black market for Rs 2,500. A can of beer of a renowned brand which is sold for Rs 100, is now getting sold for Rs 500-600 for a can. A many of my friends told me that they approached their regular vendor for alcohol over the phone, initially they refused but then quoted a higher price of Rs 7,000 for the same alcohol bottle which they used to buy for Rs 3,500 before the lockdown. In spite 50 percent salary, pending car and house loans and many other challenges people purchased liquor because that is the only way out to their stress or is a lifestyle necessity. Finally, one fine morning Government opened the shops to public but due to blatant flouting of social distancing rules, the government was prompted to shut the shops once again. Police baton charged unruly buyers. When cities eased the relentless lockdown last week to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, longest of queues were seen outside liquor shops across the country. The manic rush was not surprising as the harsh lockdown meant there was a pent-up demand for booze.

Rather there have been reports of a spike in alcohol sales around the world: in the UK sales were up by 22% in March and in the US, they have risen 55% compared to the same period last year. Selling alcohol has never been easy in India. E-commerce and home deliveries are not allowed. Many state governments have turned against booze because prohibition is a potential vote winner. Each of the 29 states has its own policies to control the production, price, sale and taxes on booze. By volume, India is the world’s second-largest consumer of alcohol after China, according IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, a London-based research firm.

India consumes more than 663 million liters of alcohol, and numbers spiked up by 11% from 2017. The per-capita consumption is rising as India consumes more whiskey than any other country in the world – about three times more than the US, which is the next biggest consumer. Nearly one in every two bottles of whiskey brought around the world is now sold in India. When worldwide booze consumption dipped in 2018, India actually partly drove a 7% uptick in the global whiskey market. Five southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala account for more than 45% of all liquor sold in India. Not surprisingly, more than 10% of their revenues come from taxes on liquor sales, according to the research wing of CRISIL, a ratings and analytics firm.

Moreover, given the higher number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, the industry body said that if the government is unable to open liquor shops, it should at least allow online delivery of alcohol. West Bengal and Meghalaya have already started the online delivery of alcohol. However, wine shop owners have a different say on the online delivery. Online delivery in Maharashtra is not possible, it will create nuisance for the citizens since liquors will be easily available at the door step 24*7 and will be available without official drinking permits where youths would be easily carried away if alcohol deliveries will reach easily at their doorstep. Taxes from alcohol sales roughly form a quarter of state revenues and is a strong contributor to the economical flow. If this stream suddenly stops, states have to compulsorily cut some important spending. Investors shy away and so do tourists. Eventually, states give up and liquor flows freely again.

On 12 April, a video of a young man distributing free whisky to daily-wage workers in Hyderabad went viral on social media. The man, identified simply as Kumar, later told a news agency that he wanted to help out people suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms. On 14 April, WHO’s regional office for Europe called for restrictions on alcohol access during the lockdown. “At times of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption can exacerbate health vulnerability, risk-taking behaviors, mental health issues and violence,” it said in a press note. But those who are addicted to the lifestyle of having liquor actually suffered more due to non-availability of the same.

In India, alcoholic beverages are classified as “food” under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The lockdown however, has seen liquor vends closed, with the “wine-cellars” in grocery stores stocking alcohol also is off limits. As the country completes what is possibly its first dry month, the unavailability of liquor has had two major repercussions: on health and government revenue. First- the condition of addicts. Nearly 57 million Indians are addicted to alcohol, according to a 2019 study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Acute withdrawal symptoms can manifest as seizures, delirium, aggressive behavior and can even be fatal. In the first week of the lockdown, nine people in Kerala who were reportedly addicted to liquor committed suicide. By the second week, six in Tamil Nadu had died after trying to substitute alcohol with after-shaves and varnish. Media reports suggest production of home-made liquor like rice beer or toddy has increased in rural areas while a grey market for bottled liquor has mushroomed in urban areas. Some of them add that bottled alcohol is being sold at twice its rate in parts of Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Second – The states have lost a large chunk of revenue. The alcoholic beverage industry accounts for 15-30% of liquor-selling state’s earnings, according to the International Spirits & Wine Association of India (ISWAI), which represents some of the country’s largest liquor manufacturers. In 2019-20 ISWAI claims, the states earned Rs 2.5 trillion in taxes from alcohol sales. In their efforts to get the states to ease restrictions, industry stakeholders argue that liquor tax money can be used to fight the pandemic. But fact is that doing away with alcohol altogether would prove too costly for the economy. With zero turnover, the industry stares at a loss of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore, not to discount loss of jobs in manufacturing units, transportation, distribution and retail. While exact employment figures are not available, some states have started feeling the pinch. By the third week of April, West Bengal, Karnataka and Delhi were reportedly considering “partial loosening” of alcohol curbs for immediate revenue generation, some by allowing home delivery. Before any government announces a ban like this, they must inform people in advance. More importantly, enough services should be made available to give the (addicts) treatment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown with sudden 4-hour notice which took millions of citizens by surprise. And now this unplanned lockdown has left a huge trail of damage on all fronts and irreparable human losses by all means.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Cabinet reshuffle expected in Maharashtra government

By

Afternoon Voice

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May 26, 2020

Maharashtra is worst-off in India’s battle with coronavirus – the city of Mumbai has the maximum number of cases in the country. The opposition BJP has been attacking the state government for its so-called shortfalls in dealing with the crisis. Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane demanded that the state should be put under President’s Rule with the government of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being removed. On the other hand, the state opposition leader and ex-CM Devendra Fadanvis has taken to social media with his IT cell attacking government on various issues. NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar said, “Fadnavis is getting intolerant and impatient,” Fadnavis is keen to bring down the government. “But there is no threat to the Maharashtra government. All MLAs are with us, any attempt to break them at this time will result in the public beating us,” Pawar said.

Sharad Pawar, a key component of the government in Maharashtra, remains firmly committed to his alliance with the Congress and the Shiv Sena; a series of recent meetings he has held do not indicate any reconsideration on his part. After Maharashtra voted in October, Pawar was the core of the strategy that saw Thackeray, the president of the Shiv Sena, taking over as Chief Minister. The Sena, after the election results, divorced the BJP after a thirty-year-long political marriage. As it began exploring new partnerships, Devendra Fadnavis returned as Chief Minister with a new ally – Ajit Pawar who is Pawar’s nephew. Together, they said, they had the numbers required to win the trust vote. In a highly controversial move, Fadnavis of the BJP was sworn in at dawn by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari – a tactic seen as highly partisan from an office meant to represent strict neutrality.

Fadnavis lasted 72 hours in office. Pawar was able to arrange a reconciliation with his nephew; their party, the Nationalist Congress Party, then moved into a joint effort with the Sena and the Congress; and their new government, called the ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’, took charge of the state. Pawar is a mercurial friend given to political expediency. In the last parliament session, he was reported to have several interactions with the Prime Minister. Yesterday, he met with the Governor and with the Chief Minister. No reason to connect the dots to interpret his appointments as examining his options, he said today.

Describing his meeting with the Governor as a “courtesy call”, he said it was not he sought the meeting and that they did not discuss either “COVID or politics”. His conferral with the Chief Minster he described as “routine”, though he admitted it was unusual for him to visit Thackeray at his storied home of “Matoshree” in Mumbai.

The two leaders met for about one-and-a-half hours late Monday evening.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that there was “no need to worry about the stability of the government”, while asserting that the state government is “strong”.