AP coronavirus update: 7,073 new cases reported, tally up at 661,458

 : Andhra Pradesh added 7,073

new cases of Covid-19 taking the overall tally to 6,61,458 on Friday.

The latest bulletin said the total recoveries touched 5,88,169 after 8,695 were discharged in 24 hours ending 9 am today.

Also, 48 fatalities were reported in 24 hours, increasing the overall toll to 5,606.

Chittoor and Prakasam reported eight fresh casualties each while Anantapuramu saw six.

Krishna and West Godavari added five more deaths each to their tally.

East Godavari continued with the regulation 1,000- plus new daily cases as its gross went up to 92,173.

SPS Nellore district crossed the 50,000 cases mark, adding 459 in 24 hours.

West Godavari reported 931, Prakasam 806 and Chittoor 713 new cases, the bulletin said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

5 states allowed to borrow Rs 9,913 cr extra after ration card reform

 Five states can raise Rs 9,913 crore as additional financial resources through open market borrowings (OMBs) for "successfully meeting" the central government's condition of implementing the One Nation One Ration Card System.

Andhra Pradesh can borrow Rs 2,525 crore, Telangana Rs 2,508 crore, Goa Rs 223 crore, Karnataka Rs 4,509 crore and Tripura Rs 148 crore, said the Finance Ministry's Department of Expenditure in a press statement on Thursday.

'One Nation One Ration Card' allows beneficiaries to avail entitled foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from any fair price shop in the country using the same ration card.

GST, VAT collection dips as 6 states' tax revenue till November FY20 falls

States like AndhraPradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Manipur, and Uttarakhand saw fall in their overall tax receipts during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
On the other hand, tax revenues rose 13.44 per cent for West Bengal in this period.

The bulk of states’ revenue comes from the devolution from the Centre’s divisible tax pool, goods and services tax (GST), value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum, and excise duty on alcohol.
These revenues declined by 11.4 per cent in this period in Andhra Pradesh, while Punjab witnessed 10.4 per cent contraction.
Figures for these two states are also available till December. If these are taken into account, Kerala saw some reduction in the rate of fall at 10.9 per cent. However, Punjab witnessed an increase, as its tax revenues saw 11.7 per cent decrease.
Among other states, Manipur, too, had 11.4 per cent fall in tax revenue during April-November 2019.
There was 3.11 per cent southward movement in these revenues in Gujarat, while another industrial state — Maharashtra — had 0.3 per cent fall in the first eight months of 2019-20 (FY20).
However, Maharashtra saw a rise in December, making its tax receipts increase by 2.87 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
Uttarakhand witnessed 0.35 per cent decline in tax receipts during April-November of FY20.
chartM S Mani, partner at Deloitte India, said, “States are expected to increase compliance and detect evasion in order to ramp up GST collection. In addition, they would also focus on increasing VAT revenue from the sale of petroleum products and alcoholic beverages.” The impact of shrinkage in tax revenue in these states impacted their fiscal deficit numbers. The deficit in Andhra Pradesh was 83.4 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) by December in the current financial year.
Similarly, Punjab saw a deficit at 42.4 per cent in the first nine months of FY20. Fiscal deficit in Gujarat, however, stood at 27.5 per cent of BE in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Similarly, Maharashtra had its fiscal deficit at 7.37 per cent of BE in the first nine months of the year.
Figures for Uttarakhand’s fiscal deficit were not available. In the case of Manipur, however, the deficit stood at 31.39 per cent of BE during April-November of the year.
West Bengal’s fiscal deficit stood at 43.7 per cent of BE in the first eight months of the year.

New AP law to replace Telugu with English as teaching language in schools

The AndhraPradesh government is bringing in a Bill during the ongoing winter session of the Legislature for amending the AP Education Act, 1982, to give a legal shield to the proposal for conversion of all schools in the state to the English medium of instruction.
The state government has decided to make English the medium of instruction for classes 1 to 6 in all schools, replacing the native language Telugu, beginning from 2020-21 academic year, with Telugu or Urdu being a compulsory subject.
While there is strong opposition to the move from different quarters, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is firm on going ahead with the decision "come what may" and accordingly, wants to give it legislative backing, highly- placed sources told PTI.
He discussed the issue with a core team of top officials here on Saturday and asked the School Education Department to draft the Bill for enactment in the ongoing winter session of the Legislature, the sources revealed.
A Cabinet note on the draft Bill is being circulated among the ministers for formal approval before introducing it in the Legislature.
"The Bill will be taken up either on Monday or Tuesday. The Chief Minister wants to ensure that the English medium proposal has the required legal backing so that nobody could tamper with the ultimate objective," the sources averred.
Classes from I to VI in Primary, Upper Primary, High Schools under all managements will first be converted into English medium from the academic year 2020-21.
English medium will be introduced for classes 7 to 10 in the subsequent four years from 2021-22, as per the government's plan.
The state government initially wanted to make English the medium of instruction from classes 1 to 8 but has now restricted it up to class 6 due to reasons like non- availability of qualified teachers and textbooks.
"We will go ahead with English medium schools, come what may. We have to prepare the students to boldly face and stand up to the requirements of the technology-driven world and we should not be found wanting in it.
We should not feel guilty by not preparing the generation-next to face the highly dynamic and technology- driven world," the Chief Minister noted in his recent speeches on the issue.
The mission would be carried forward, with all government schools getting the required infrastructure and skill upgrade, he said, adding English labs would be set up in all schools.
In line with the Chief Minister's assertion, the AP Education Act, 1982, will be suitably amended to incorporate provisions related to English medium of instruction.