Free Press Bulletin: Top 5 news updates of April 7, 2021; watch video

Free Press Bulletin: Top 5 news updates of April 7, 2021; watch video

Free Press Bulletin is your one-stop destination to the top 5 news updates of the day.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Thursday, April 08, 2021, 01:27 PM IST
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Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said the state has 14 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine which would last only three days, and many inoculation centres were being closed due to the shortage of the vaccine.

While addressing a press meet on the COVID-19 situation in the state, Rajesh Tope said that people coming to such centres for taking jabs were being sent back as there was no supply of vaccine doses.

"We do not have enough vaccine doses at various vaccination centres, and people have to be sent back due to a shortage of doses," Tope said.

"Currently, we have 14 lakh vaccine doses which will get over in the next three days. We've urged for 40 lakh more vaccine doses per week. I'm not saying that the Centre is not giving us vaccines but the speed of delivery of vaccines is slow," he said.

Over the last few weeks, as Maharashtra's COVID-19 case tally rose to dizzying heights, the state administration has imposed a slew of restrictions. From this week, many public spaces and stores will remain closed as the state attempts to break the chain of transmission. But as the partial lockdown went into effect, the situation has rapidly devolved.

In many places across Mumbai, protests have broken out as vendors railed against the closure of shops. A day after shopkeepers across Thane, Kalyan, and Ulhasnagar, Borivali and other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region held impromptu protest marches, a similar situation was seen in Kandivali on Wednesday morning.

Visuals taken by The Free Press Journal's BL Soni show a large group of people agitating with placards. We feel compelled to mention here that while most seem to be wearing masks, some are sporting it firmly below their noses, and social distancing protocols seem to have flown out of the window. The placards bear various iterations of the same message, that they are firmly against the lockdown imposed in the state.

The projection of real GDP growth for 2021-2022 is retained at 10.5 per cent, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das during the bi-monetary policy.

"It consists of 26.2 per cent in Q1, 8.3 per cent in Q2 and 5.4 per cent in Q3 and 6.2 per cent in Q4 of 2021-2011, " said Das.

Global growth is gradually recovering from slowdown but remains uncertain. "Vaccine distribution and its efficacy is key to global economic recovery," he added.

CPI inflation is at 5 per cent in Q4 FY 21 as against 5.2 per cent forecast earlier. The MPC forecasts CPI inflation of 5.2 per cent in Q1 and Q2 of FY22, 4.4 percent in Q3 and 5.1 percent in Q4.

Mumbai Police on Wednesday announced the updated lockdown guidelines which restricts the movement of people in public areas and transport while exempting those involved in essential services.


In a series of tweets, Mumbai Police announced the updated lockdown guidelines, which states "Public Places: Weekdays (7 am-8 pm) - the movement of no more than 5 people allowed Weekdays (8 pm-7 am) and 8 pm Friday to 7 am Monday - no movement except essential services Beaches- Closed till 30 April."
While private offices will remain closed, government offices have been allowed to run with 50 per cent occupancy whereas government offices required for response to COVID-19, electricity, water, banking and financial services are allowed to function with 100 per cent capacity.

Moreover, only 50 guests are allowed in wedding ceremonies while not more than 20 people can attend funerals.

Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 460 points on Wednesday after the RBI expectedly left interest rates unchanged and maintained an accommodative stance as the economy faces a renewed threat to growth due to the resurgence of coronavirus cases.

The 30-share BSE index jumped 460.37 points or 0.94 per cent to finish at 49,661.76. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 135.55 points or 0.92 per cent to 14,819.05.

SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 2 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Maruti.

On the other hand, Titan, NTPC and HUL were the laggards.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept key interest rates unchanged at record lows while pledging to buy Rs 1 lakh crore of government bonds this quarter to cap borrowing costs in a bid to support an economy facing a resurgence of the pandemic.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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