Viral Shock

The Hindu Newsletter - Viral Shock Monday 09, March 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap Welcome to The Evening Wrap, your guide to the day’s major news developments with concise analysis from The Hindu. It’s all about the economy today on a day that saw the Sensex have its worst ever fall. Here’s what you need to know: Viral Shock The Nifty and Sensex lost all gains made over 2019, as the bourses witnessed an absolute bloodbath today. The Sensex dropped by over 2,000 and the Nifty, by over 500 points, as both suffered their biggest one-day fall in history. All told, some ₹5 trillion of investor wealth was lost. This is extremely worrying news at the start of the week. What is behind this phenomenon? Well, quite a few factors. The first is that there is a massive global sell-off of stocks amid fears that the spread of the coronavirus around the world could slow down economic activity. Tourism and trade are two of the sectors that have already seen major hits. [The pharma and auto industry]( in India in particular will suffer as they are heavily reliant on components from China. Markets across Asia are expected to stall further. So don’t expect these fears, and investor panic related to it, to subside any time soon. The second major economic story of the day is that [crude oil prices fell by an astounding 31%]( as Saudi Arabia launched a coronavirus-sparked price war with Russia. Saudi Arabia slashed prices after Russia refused to go along with OPEC's proposal to rescue the oil market, which has been on a slump due to coronavirus-related fears and restraints on economic activity. The fall in crude prices may help India in the short term but could have adverse effects downstream if it amplifies fears of a global recession. It did nothing today, for instance, to halt the stock market carnage. The third factor is the ongoing Yes Bank crisis. Though the government and the RBI have announced a plan for restructuring the bank, there is still panic among investors about the financial stability of India’s banking sector. There are two reasons why the rescue initiative has been unconvincing: one, SBI’s capital infusion of ₹2,450 crore is far below what’s needed; and two, while any viable restructuring seems difficult without a merger, a merger of Yes Bank with SBI might only end up spreading further the contagion of toxic assets. We’re still trying to make sense of a lot of this but by way of an initial explainer, today’s episode of the Hindu’s In Focus Podcast deals with the stock market crash. [Listen to that here](. More Cases As many as 45 confirmed cases of [COVID-19]( have been reported across India, after six people tested positive for the virus in Kerala. The state has been put on high alert while Punjab and Karnataka have also reported their first cases. The central government has warned of action against anyone hiding their travel history or contact with anyone suspected to be affected by COVID-19. As COVID-19 spreads globally, the numbers are constantly being updated. The death toll in Iran has risen to 237. Germany has reported over 1,000 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, China, the epicentre of the outbreak, has reported 22 new deaths from the coronavirus, the lowest number of fatalities in more than a month, taking the death toll to 3,119. Catch all the major developments related to the coronavirus spread with our [live page]( No naming and shaming The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to remove forthwith the controversial [‘name and shame’ hoardings](of those arrested during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “In entirety, we are having no doubt that the action of the State, which is the subject matter of this public interest litigation is nothing but an unwarranted interference in the privacy of people. The same hence, is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” a Division Bench of the court observed. Enemy Within Fresh political drama is brewing in Madhya Pradesh once again as the Kamal Nath-led Congress government is now in danger of being sabotaged from the inside. Senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia seems to be at the centre of this crisis. Some 17 Congress MLAs loyal to the former MP have been flown by a chartered flight to Bengaluru. Scindia is in Delhi now and there are rumours that he is meeting Prime Minister Modi. We’ll keep a watch on this story, which is shaping up to be political dynamite. In Brief: Beleaguered private sector lender Yes Bank is hopeful of the moratorium being lifted by this Saturday, its RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar said. The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam. These mostly concern an alleged bribe of ₹600 crore paid to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) Bangladesh has postponed the main inaugural programme to mark Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary, which was set to be held on March 17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to attend the event. That’s it for this edition of The Evening Wrap. We’ll see you tomorrow. You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b4dm779bf2f90kauhqqkhbysa8hkwt@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2019, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Subscription](