Congress terms Centre's economic tranche 'numerical bombshells'; demands cash transfer

Slamming the Centre's fourth economic tranche announced on Saturday, Congress MP Manish Tewari termed the daily press briefings '155 mm numerical bombshells'. He pointed out that people currently needed money - Direct Cash Transfers and not these numerical attacks. India's third phase of lockdown is set to end on May 17, as Coronavirus cases soar to85,940 with 2752 fatalities.

West Bengal to pay entire train fare of migrants returning back via 'Shramik' trains

Congress slams Centre's numerical bombshells

Centre rolls out structural reforms in 8 Indian sectors in its fourth economic tranche

Centre announces 8 sectoral reforms

The Centre announced structural reforms in eight sectors in the fourth tranche of its economic package amid Coronavirus lockdown. The reforms introduced affect 8 sectors namely - Coal, defence production, minerals, civil aviation (Airports, Airspace Mgmt & MRO), power distribution in UTs, Space and atomic energy. The steps include Commercial mining in the coal sector, Seamless exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime in the mineral sector, Corporatisation not privatisation of Ordnance Factory Board, overhauling of Airspace management, making India an MRO hub and auctioning of airports, privatisation of Power distribution in Union territories, Rs. 8000 crores to revamp Social infrastructure, Private participation boost in Space exploration and several reforms in the atomic sector.

Coronavirus Live Updates:India's cases at 85,940; Centre rolls out 8 sectoral reforms

Previous tranches

• On Friday, the Centre rolled out its third tranche with 11 measures focused on agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing -  schemes to finance farming infrastructure, micro food enterprises, fishermen, animal health, dairy infrastructure, herbal cultivation, bee-keeping and food supply chain management along with an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, Central law for Agriculture marketing reforms and e-trading of agriculture produce.

• On Thursday, the Centre announced nine measures -  free food grains, nationalised ration card, affordable rental housing for urban poor - all aimed at India's migrant population. The Centre also extended several schemes for housing, street vendors and housing to provide relief till March 2021.

• On Wednesday, announced MSME reforms that involved 3 lakh crore collateral-free automatic loans for businesses, Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion in MSME Fund, redefining 'MSME', disallowing global tenders upto Rs 200 crores, Rs.30,000 crore liquidity facility for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs, Rs.90,000 crore liquidity injection for DISCOMs among a few.

Chidambaram slams Centre's third economic tranche, claims 'fiscal stimulus is zero'

PM Modi's Rs 20.lakh crore booster

On Tuesday, PM Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh crore economic package - including the previous monetary package and the liquidity measures announced by RBI till date (amounting to 10.26 lakh crore) to kickstart Indian economy's growth. He has also stated that the lockdown will be extended post-May 18, but will have relaxed restrictions. The MHA will announce guidelines of Lockdown 4.0 on Sunday.