Modi calls up his Swedish counterpart, Oman sultan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven on Tuesday agreed on the possibility of collaboration and data sharing between researchers and scientists of the two countries, a move which would contribute to the global efforts against Covid19. Modi later spoke to the Sultan of Oman.
Modi and Lofven also discussed over telephone the novel coronavirus pandemic and the steps being taken in their respective countries for controlling its health and economic impacts.
The PM also spoke to Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarikand and discussed ways to limit the impact of the virus. “Spoke to His Majesty Sultan of Oman about Covid-19 and how to limit its impact,” the prime minister tweeted.
Modi said he also expressed thanks to the Sultan for his personal attention to the well-being of the Indian community in Oman. An official statement said the two leaders discussed the health and economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the steps being taken by their countries.
“They agreed that both countries would extend all possible support to each other in dealing with the crisis,” it said. The Sultan assured the PM of the safety and wellbeing of the Indian community in Oman in the present situation.
The world’s biggest lockdown has brought transportation of goods in the country close to a halt, even though the government has exempted the sector from restrictions to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Daily movement of trucks has collapsed to less than 10 per cent of normal levels, according to All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), an umbrella body of goods-vehicle operators representing about 10 million truckers. Road transport accounts for about 60 per cent of freight traffic in India and 87 per cent of its passenger traffic, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Trucking has emerged as a major chokepoint in global supply chains from food to medical supplies as governments around the world take ever more stringent steps to contain the pandemic, restricting the movement of vehicles as well as people to drive them. The stoppages in the country, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a three-week lockdown from March 25, are a harbinger of the damage the measures are wreaking on the economy amid forecasts the country could see its first contraction in at least two decades.
“Though the government has allowed movement of both essential and non-essential goods, the situation is very different at the ground level,”
Members of Parliament (MPS) will have to take 30 per cent cut in some of the allowances such as those related to constituency and office work. Instead of ~70,000 a month constituency allowance they will get ~49,000 from April 1 this year, according to notifications issued by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.
Similarly, their office expense allowance said Naveen Kumar Gupta, secretary general of AIMTC, the largest grouping of transporters in India. Almost daily clarifications by the government take time to trickle down to officials enforcing the rules, making operations difficult, according to the organisation’s president, Kultaran Singh Atwal.
The decline in road transport is another major setback for fuel demand in the world’s third biggest oil market, which has already been hit by the collapse in air travel. Fuel sales in March by India’s three biggest state-run retailers shrank by as much as 33 per cent. has been cut to ~14,000 a month, from ~20,000, according to a notification issued by the Rajya Sabha secretariat.
The government also promulgated an Ordinance to cut the salary of MPS by 30 per cent. The Salary, Allowances And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, will come into force immediately.
The ordinance was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday.
A Bill to replace the ordinance will be
One of the major problems facing truckers is loading and unloading because of a shortage of labor, according to AIMTC. And with the lockdown shutting highway food establishments and workshops, truckers can’t get the services they need even if they are on the road.
The world could be on the brink a food scare as the coronavirus upends supply chains and sends prices for key staples higher. Prices of rice and wheat — crops that account for a third of the world’s calories — are rapidly climbing. brought in the next session of Parliament.
The ordinance states that the coronavirus pandemic has shown the importance of expeditious relief and assistance and therefore, it is necessary to take “certain emergency measures to prevent and contain the spread of this pandemic”.
“... In order to manage and control such situation, it has become necessary to raise resources by reduction of salaries and allowances of Members of Parliament...,” the ordinance says.