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Recovery from pandemic could be bumpy, says ECB chief Christine Lagarde

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Analysts have been predicting more stimulus as a renewed increase in virus infections and partial lockdowns weigh on economic growth.

FRANKFURT: European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde says the current 1.35 trillion-euro ($1.58 trillion) bond purchase program and cheap loans to banks are “likely to remain the main tools” to help the economy as it prepares to offer more stimulus in December.

Lagarde said Wednesday that “while all options are on the table,” the bond purchase program and offers of long-term credit to banks – in some cases carrying a negative interest rate that pays the banks to borrow – had proven effective and could be adjusted as the pandemic evolves.

At the central bank’s last meeting on Oct.28 Lagarde said there was “little doubt” that the monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro would step up its stimulus efforts at its Dec.10 meeting.

Analysts have been predicting more stimulus as a renewed increase in virus infections and partial lockdowns weigh on economic growth.

Inflation, meanwhile, was at minus 0.3% in September and continues to lag the ECB’s goal of below but close to 2%.

Lagarde warned Wednesday in her speech to an ECB online conference that the economy faces a “bumpy,” “stop-and-start” recovery despite good news about potential vaccines.

She warned that lasting changes in behavior could drag out the rebound, and that governments and central banks will need policies that bridge the gap until vaccination is widespread.

COVID-19 effect: Hotel industry stares at Rs 90,000 crore revenue loss

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Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020


Hotels, restaurantsFor representational purposesBy Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, occupancy levels for hotels in India continue to remain at rock bottom. According to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) report, the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) across 11 markets crashed by a whopping 70-90 per cent in the April-June 2020 period compared to the previous year.

This RevPAR value has falled 52.8 per cent year-on-year in the January to September 2020 period.

In terms of individual markets, Mumbai continues to be the RevPAR leader despite a decline of 71.7 per cent year-on-year in April-June 2020, whereas Bengaluru saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR at 88.1 per cent decline compared to the same period of the previous year. Other markets such as Pune (86.2 per cent), Kolkata (82.6 per cent) and Goa (78.8 per cent) also witnessed sharp declines in RevPAR, according to the report.

Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020. Hotel occupancy, it noted, has only improved from approximately 10 per cent in April 2020 to 26 per cent in September 2020.

“Saying that COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the hotels sector in India is putting it mildly… Occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) are expected to reach pre-COVID levels by 2022 and 2023 respectively – assuming that a vaccine is in place by early 2021 and becomes widely available before the end of the year,” said Mandeep Lamba, President (South Asia) HVS Anarock.

The consultant also added that while over 11,500 rooms were expected to be added to supplies over 2020 and 2021, only 15-20 per cent of the anticipated 2020 supply is likely to come into the market, with the rest being postponed to 2021 and beyond.

It said that some properties are likely to be repurposed to other asset classes such as hospitals, student housing and co-living.

Government colleges in Karnataka set to open, but short of guest teachers

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Most of them are language and commerce lecturers, sources in the teaching fraternity point out.

Education: In a state which fares low in the in the literacy rate, education is still in bad shape. The higher education options in the state leave the students with not much choice but to leave the state. With no big engineering or medical college, the students of the state often travel to South India or move to Punjab or Delhi. Even with the case of arts stream, the standards of the colleges are not up to the mark and oftening completing the degree on time is compromised. Be it the 15 years rule of Lallu Prasad Yadav or the incumbent Nitish Kumar, education has not been a priority. (File Photo |EPS)

BENGALURU: While preparations are under way to start the academic year with physical attendance in classes for students and teaching faculty from November 17, government colleges are faced with inadequate manpower, an issue which could have been resolved earlier. 

As many as 14,500 guest lecturers have not been paid salaries since March and havent been reappointed for the 2020-21 academic year, while more than 1,000 permanent teachers in 428 government colleges in the state are yet to be appointed for the academic year.

Most of them are language and commerce lecturers, sources in the teaching fraternity point out. The ratio of guest faculty to permanent teachers is 2:1, says general secretary of Karnataka Government College Teachers Association (KGCTA) HB Narayana.

There are about 7,000 permanent faculty members in the state. A higher concentration of guest teachers is seen in government college in B and C zones (non-urban areas). There is no saying if they will report back to work as they have not been given their appointment letter and not paid salaries for the last eight months.

Some have also taken up other jobs – such as selling vegetables – to make ends meet, says guest lecturer Suma (name changed) at a government college in Bengaluru. All these years, lecturers like Suma, who has eight years under her belt as a guest lecturer, are awaiting financial as well as job security. 

We are paid for 10 months, and after the summer break, we have to just wait to hopefully make it to the list of guest faculty members for the next year. Sometimes, if permanent appointments are made, they take up 16 hours of workload per day per person, while guest lecturers, who receive a fraction of the salary and work eight hours, are taken off the list,” Suma says.

This insecurity has amplified with the pandemic and the department is still trying to work out a way to make the appointments. Without confirmation of appointments, guest lecturers do not know if they have made the cut, and they have discontinued teaching their students as they are officially not employed in the college.

The problem facing the government colleges is that the guest lecturers handle more than just the classrooms – they are involved in various other jobs including the admission process. With their absence, or meagre presence, the workload for the permanent faculty is bound to increase in classrooms as they try to fill in for the missing guest lecturers.

With just six days to go for the reopening of offline classes, if shifts have to be worked out to ensure COVID-19 safety norms, the colleges are faced with no clarity on who will handle additional workload, says KGCTA secretary Narayana.The appointment of more than 1,000 faculty members was also stalled when the government decided against it after the pandemic started weighing on the state’s kitty.

To try and remedy this, the department is seeking the finance department’s approval to sanction the appointments. Commissioner of department of Collegiate Education and Teechnical Education Pradeep that special recruitment rules were finalised, but those were put on hold (owing to the pandemic). “The higher education department has already sought a special permission from the finance department, and approval is awaited,” he said.

Bengaluru Challenger postponed

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If it does happen next year, there is no certainty about the event having spectators.

BENGALURU:  The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) has more or less decided to postpone the Bangalore Open, an ATP challenger event. In 2020, it was held in February. They are set to ‘inform the ATP soon’ about their decision and request them to provide a slot in the second half of the calendar season.

“We might push it (Bangalore Open) to the second half of the calendar,” KSLTA joint-secretary Sunil Yajaman told this daily on Wednesday. “However, we will have to discuss that with the ATP, and they will be the one to finalise it. For the first half, the calendar is getting ready and I hope they will give us some dates or week in the second half, and then we will be able to select one of them. We are hopeful of getting a slot.”

If it does happen next year, there is no certainty about the event having spectators. But KSLTA is not too perturbed with it and will follow whatever is to be followed in regards to fans inside the stadium. Though Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru might have improved, the present situation is not ideal for getting sponsorships, which is also one of the reasons for KSLTA’s decision.

In these tournaments, the state government has been a huge support and we get nearly 40-50 per cent of funding from them. The remaining comes from corporate sponsorships. Right now, it is difficult for the government due to the pandemic situation too. Also, it is not an ideal time for us to reach out for corporate sponsorships as well,” he added.

Pakistan Army shells four sectors along LoC in Poonch-Rajouri

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This is third consecutive day that the Pakistan Army has targeted hamlets and posts with mortar bombs and heavy firing triggering fear and panic among the residents along the LoC in Poonch.

Indian Army

JAMMU: The Pakistan Army on Thursday opened heavy fire and shelled forward areas and posts in four sectors along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The Indian Army effectively retaliated.

This is third consecutive day that the Pakistan Army has targeted hamlets and posts with mortar bombs and heavy firing triggering fear and panic among the residents along the LoC in Poonch district.

Pakistan also opened fire along the International Border (IB) targeting hamlets and Border Out Posts (BoPs) in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district overnight, they said.

“At about 0900 hours, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors in district Poonch and also in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district”, a defence spokesman said.

Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire 24 times this month.

KSRTC to run 1000 extra buses this festive season

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Advance reservation of tickets for the special and scheduled buses of KSRTC can be booked through 706 counters within Karnataka and in other states

BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation on Tuesday said it has made elaborate arrangements to run 1,000 extra buses during the Deepavali festival season.

It has also decided to operate special buses from various intra and interstate locations to Bengaluru on November 16.

The special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to various destinations including Dharmasthala, Kukke Subrahmanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Sringeri and Tirupati, the corporation said in a statement here.

There will be special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalnagar and Madikeri.

All premier special buses will be operated from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bus Station at Shantinagar to Tirupati, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and other places in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala.

Tickets can be booked online by accessing www.ksrtc.in.

Also, advance reservation of tickets for the special and scheduled buses of KSRTC can be booked through 706 counters within Karnataka and in other states, it added.

Bypolls done and dusted, now onto Cabinet expansion

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CM Yeddyurappa will have to tread carefully to silence his baiters; A group of cabinet aspirants met him on Wed
 

BENGALURU: After adding two more seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tally in Karnataka with the bypoll victories, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is all set to take on the next challenge — silencing baiters within the party. The Chief Minister is looking to use cabinet expansion and appointments to boards and corporations as means to quell any disgruntlement within the party over funds allocation, clamour for ministerial berths and disenchantment among cadres over neglect. 

But having made promises to induct former rebel MLAs of the JDS-Congress coalition, who joined the BJP and helped the party come to power, the task seems more challenging.Currently, there are seven vacant berths in the 34-member cabinet which is Bengaluru- and Belagavi-heavy while there is no representation from more than a dozen districts. Of the 27 incumbent ministers, 11 are those who swittched to the BJP. Four others — MTB Nagaraj, Muniratna, R Shankar and H Vishwanath — are awaiting induction. 

Apart from them, a host of BJP old-timers like CP Yogeshwar, Sunil Kumar, S A Ramadas, Appachchu Ranjan, Umesh Katti, Murugesh Nirani, Arvind Limbavali, S Angara, etc are lobbying hard for ministerial berths. If all four newcomers to the party are inducted, they will make up more than 44% of the cabinet. Maintaining the delicate balance will be the CM’s main challenge during the next cabinet expansion.

With the party eyeing the Maski and Basavakalyan seats too in the next round of bypolls, Yediyurappa will be keen on delivering similar results, but will have to get on to making amends within first. Barely 24 hours after bypoll results, ministerial berth aspirants visited Yediyurappa on Wednesday. 

“I have already submitted my application to be a minister, but it is now left to the CM to decide. He has assured us that a few ministers will be dropped and new faces will be accommodated,” said Shorapur MLA Raju Gowda Naik. He, along with other MLAs Renukacharya, Murugesh Nirani, Shivaraj Patil and Belli Prakash, went straight to Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi’s residence from the CM’s residence.

Jarkiholi, who has hosted umpteen number of such luncheons and dinners, returned after a three-day trip to New Delhi only on Tuesday night. Sources in the BJP suggest that Yediyurappa is all for a cabinet reshuffle to accommodate more new faces, but the Central leadership prefers only an expansion to fill the seven vacant berths. Yediyurappa meanwhile, hopes to win over miffed MLAs while appeasing cadres with appointments to boards and corporations. So far, only MLAs have been appointed to boards and corporations, much to the disappointment of party workers. 

With State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel’s suggestions, Yediyurappa is likely to appoint cadres to boards, authorities and corporations. Even after inducting new faces, the CM is keen on keeping at least one cabinet berth vacant keeping in mind the Maski and Basavakalyan bypoll.

US hospitals again under pressure with Covid on the rise

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The number of deaths each day is still far from levels seen in the spring, however the US recorded more than 1,300 fatalities in 24 hours on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON: After several weeks of rapidly rising coronavirus cases, hospitals around the United States are once again overwhelmed, forcing local authorities to take new measures to cope with the pandemic.

On Wednesday a record 65,368 people were in the hospital with Covid-19 across the country, marking the second day in a row and second time ever that the tally passed the 60,000 mark, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Around the country officials were scrambling to staunch the spread. 

In New York state, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that any establishment with a liquor license, including bars and restaurants, would have to close at 10:00 pm beginning Friday. The rule will also apply to gyms.

New York City was the early epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus pandemic, but hotspots have since popped up across the country, leaving practically no geographical region unaffected.

One such locale is the border city of El Paso in western Texas, a state where coronavirus cases have now exceeded one million.

More than 1,000 people are hospitalized in the county of El Paso alone, a substantial portion of the state’s nearly 6,800 hospitalizations.

“These are dark times,” Ogechika Alozie, chief medical officer at the city’s Del Sol Medical Center, told CNN Wednesday. “I think the biggest word is just fatigue. And there’s frustration.”

Cases are so high that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has requested a military medical center be converted for intake of non-Covid patients in order to free up space in hospitals. County officials, meanwhile, have requested additional mobile morgues.

The situation in El Paso is typical of the difficulties local governments are facing in the United States, where President Donald Trump has downplayed the epidemic and left handling of the health crisis to state, county and city officials.

In late October an El Paso County judge ordered non-essential businesses closed for two weeks, a measure fought by El Paso’s mayor and the state attorney general.

Trump has placed much of his hopes of fighting the coronavirus pandemic on rapid development of a vaccine. 

Positive Phase 3 trials of a vaccine developed by Pfizer mean inoculations are likely to begin by the end of the year or in early 2021. 

But with no vaccine at present, the US is facing troubling circumstances.

The number of deaths each day is still far from levels seen in the spring, however the US recorded more than 1,300 fatalities in 24 hours on Wednesday.

The coronavirus death rate has “declined since the spring partly because hospitals and staff were so overstretched back then. As cases take off across the country, we will increasingly start seeing those limitations again,” said emergency medicine specialist Craig Spencer on Twitter.

The US contamination curve has undergone three notable waves: a first in the spring with an epicenter in New York, a second in the summer that hit the US south particularly hard, and a third since mid-October with records being set in the Midwest.

In North and South Dakota, more than one in 2,000 residents is currently hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum this week authorized health workers who test positive to continue working in Covid units in order to cope with the “enormous pressure” on the state healthcare system.

In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10:00 pm and placed a 10-person limit on gatherings.

Restrictions are popping up beyond the Midwest as well, such as in Utah, where wearing a mask in public is now mandatory statewide.

President-elect Joe Biden pleaded Monday once again for Americans to wear face coverings, telling viewers in a televised speech that “a mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start putting the country together.”

He has pledged to tackle the health crisis from day one of his administration, which begins January 20.

After winning in Bihar, Bengal is prime focus for BJP: Vijayvargiya

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Vijayvargiya asserted that BJP’s victory in West Bengal will be “much bigger” as it will “storm to power with a two-thirds majority”.

KOLKATA: After clinching the Bihar assembly polls, West Bengal will be the “prime focus” for BJP where it has set a target of winning more than 200 out of the total 294 seats in the state elections due in April-May 2021, party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Wednesday.

The NDA has won 125 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly, results of which were declared on Tuesday.

The BJP with its score of 74 seats has emerged as the party to have won the second highest number of seats after Lalu Prasad’s RJD.

The saffron party’s tally is much higher than that of its ally – the JD(U) which won 43 seats.

It will now shift its focus to politically crucial West Bengal, which sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha – two more than Bihar, Vijayvargiya, who is also BJP’s in-charge of Bengal, said.

The BJP, which has made deep inroads in West Bengal by winning 18 of its 42 Lok Sabha seat – four less than ruling TMC in the 2019 general election, was waiting for the Bihar election results before mounting its “final assault” on the Mamata Banerjee government, party sources said.

Vijayvargiya is of the opinion that not just Bihar assembly poll results, the saffron party’s victory in several by-polls across the country show that not only has the faith of the people in it increased but also in the policies of the BJP government at the Centre.

“A victory always increases the morale of the party workers. BJP’s win in Bihar and the by-polls will act as a morale booster for its workers in the state. West Bengal will now be our prime focus state.”

“The ground in Bengal is well prepared for a change and we have to ensure that the anger against the TMC government is channelised. We will use all our energy to free the people of the state from the misrule of TMC,” he said.

Vijayvargiya asserted that BJP’s victory in West Bengal will be “much bigger” as it will “storm to power with a two-thirds majority”.

“If you analyse the Bihar and by-poll results you will see that BJP’s strike rate is very good. In Bengal we are fighting alone, so we are confident of crossing the target of 200 plus seats in the state,” he said.

Union Home Minister and top BJP leader Amit Shah during his visit to the state last week had said that West Bengal is the “prime focus state” for the party and it will “fight and win it with a massive mandate”. BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh had echoed him and said “After Bihar it will be West Bengal for the BJP.”

“The saffron wave witnessed in neighbouring Bihar will sweep away the TMC in West Bengal too. The difference between the elections in the two states is that we were in power in Bihar for nearly 15 years, but in West Bengal we are a challenger,” Ghosh said.

A section of the state BJP leaders, however, underlined that the Bihar election results will have little impact on polls in West Bengal, other than seats along the border.

But it will act as a “morale booster” for party workers in Bengal.

Several state BJP leaders said the party will take a cue from the Bihar poll results and “re-strategise” its campaign issues for the West Bengal elections.

To corner TMC, the BJP has been so far stressing on its alleged misrule, law and order issues, violence, corruption and the state administration’s handling of the COVID-19 situation in West Bengal.

“The Bihar election results have shown that issues like unemployment and migrant labour crisis are crucial in several seats. So we need to stress upon these problems as well.”

“As Bihar was the first state to hold assembly poll after the COVID-19 outbreak, there are a few things all of us need to learn from it,” a senior West Bengal BJP leader said.

Although BJP has the advantage of being an “untested challenger” in West Bengal where it has never been in power, the party is well aware that it will be up against Mamata Banerjee, who has the reputation of being a tough fighter, party sources said.

“If RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav can put up such a fight (in Bihar), it is anyone’s guess the kind of contest we will face in West Bengal,” another state BJP leader said.

As per the parliamentary poll results, the saffron camp had bagged 40.5 per cent votes and was ahead in more than 125 assembly seats in the state.

The central BJP leadership has asked the state leaders to fan out to the districts and organise agitations and mass mobilisations on issues the people are concerned about, before the Congress and Left Front capitalises on those problems, sources in the saffron party said.

“People will see several agitations in different assembly segments over local issues from November-December onwards,” a BJP leader said adding the party is also working to plug the gaps in its organisational strength in some districts.

The Trinamool Congress mocked the saffron party’s target of winning more than 200 seats in the state.

“As far as coming to power in West Bengal is concerned, the BJP is still living in a fool’s paradise. Its candidates will lose deposits in most of the seats,” TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy said.

Uttarakhand BJP MLA Surendra Singh Jeena dies due to COVID-19

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DEHRADUN: BJP MLA from Salt in Almora district, Surendra Singh Jeena, who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a hospital in New Delhi, died early Thursday, a party leader said.

The 50-year-old Jeena was admitted to the Sir Gangaram Hospital nearly a week ago.

He breathed his last at around 4 am, Pradesh BJP vice president Devendra Bhasin said.

Pradesh BJP President Bansidhar Bhagat expressed grief at Jeena’s demise, describing it as an irreparable loss not just for the party but for the entire society.

“He was a young and energetic leader always active in public interest and organisational affairs. His death is an irreparable loss for the party and the society,” Bhagat  said.

Jeena’s wife had also passed away recently in Delhi.

Praying for strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss, the BJP leader said he and his party stand with them in this hour of grief.

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