The government on Saturday put curbs on exports of diagnostic kits with a view to discourage shipments amid the coronavirus outbreak. The export of diagnostic kits (diagnostic or laboratory reagents on a backing, preparation diagnostic or laboratory reagents) ... is restricted with immediate effect, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

A number of global companies most with large presence in India have assured employees that there will be no or insignificant layoffs while the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown continue. Some have taken a 90-day no-layoff pledge. Some have put a stop to all layoffs for this year. Some are protecting jobs by reducing fresh hiring.

The US economy shed 701,000 jobs in March amid the damage inflicted by the coronavirus shutdowns, while the unemployment rate surged to 4.4 per cent, the labor department reported on Friday.

Investor wealth tumbled by Rs 4,82,033.63 crore in two days of market fall as rise in Covid-19 cases further triggered selling in equities. Selling in markets led to a decline in market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies which tumbled Rs 4,82,033.63 crore to Rs 1,08,66,722.96 crore in two days.

Fitch Ratings on Friday said it has slashed India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to a 30-year low of 2 per cent, from 5.1 per cent projected earlier, as economic recession gripped global economy following the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a unprecedented move, cut market trading hours for both bonds and foreign exchange to four hours, citing possible operational and logistical risks arising from the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video message broadcast this morning, saying symbolism is important but serious thought to ideas and measures is equally important. What we expected from you today was FAP II, a generous livelihood support package for the poor, he said in a series of tweets.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) states that it has received reports from many of its attorney members, indicating that they/clients have received a denial notification for certain H-1B registrations on the ground that it is a duplicate submission, even when it was not. A duplicate submission refers to one which is made by the same sponsoring employer for the same H-1B candidate.

Oil prices soared on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce a major oil production cut, and Saudi state media said the kingdom was calling an emergency meeting of oil producers to deal with the market turmoil.

The Trump Organisation -- the conglomerate of companies created by Trump and now run by his sons -- is, like many others, losing money as the restrictions put in place to lessen the spread of deadly COVID-19 bring the US to a grinding halt.

India's economic growth is likely to slow down to 4 per cent this fiscal on the back of the current global health emergency, Asian Development Bank said in its outlook for the financial year 2020-21 on Friday. South Asia will face a milder slowdown. Growth in South Asia will decelerate to 4.1 per cent in FY2021 and then recover to 6 per cent in FY2022, it stated.

Equity indices plunged in opening session on Friday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 350 points, dragged by bank and auto stocks. The 30-share BSE index fell 392 points or 1.39 per cent at 27,873; while the broader NSE Nifty was 89 points or 1.08 per cent at 8,164. Investor sentiment continued to be weighed down by the uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to $1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations using the fast-track process, the bank said on Thursday. The largest chunk of the emergency financial assistance has gone to India - $1 billion.

A day after domestic natural gas prices were cut by 26%, Indraprastha Gas Ltd on Thursday cut CNG price by Rs 3.20 per kg and PNG rate by Rs 1.55 per unit in Delhi. The reductions will be marginally higher at Rs 3.60 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad due to incremental decrease in state taxes.

The global economy could shrink by up to 1 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a reversal from the previous forecast of 2.5 per cent growth, the UN has said, warning that it may contract even further if restrictions on the economic activities are extended without adequate fiscal responses.

Nearly a year and a half year after Hyderabad-based pharma major Aurobindo Pharma announced its big ticket, $900 million deal to acquire Sandoz Incs US generic oral solids and dermatology businesses, the company on Thursday informed the bourses that the deal has been mutually called off due to delays in getting approvals from the US Federal Trade Commission (USFTC).

British Airways (BA) has struck a deal to suspend thousands of staff in one of the airline industry's most dramatic moves yet to survive the coronavirus pandemic, its union said. The Unite union said it had agreed a deal with the British flag carrier to furlough workers on 80% of pay, with no cap on earnings, and without anyone being made redundant.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits shot to a record high of more than 6 million last week as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession.

Insurance brokers have written to the regulator seeking relief for businesses in payment of premium and a request that they be categorised as essential services along with insurance companies. The brokers had also sought the temporary lifting of a key law that bars insurers from taking on risk unless they receive the premium.

Air India on Thursday temporarily suspended the contracts of around 200 employees including pilots, who were re-employed after retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. AI has cut the allowances of all employees, except cabin crew, by 10% for 3 months.

Resumption of schedule passengers flights after April 14-15 midnight, unless the lockdown is extended to contain spread of coronavirus, will be a gradual affair. Allowing passengers mostly Indians stranded abroad to fly to India will be decided on a country to country (from where they have to return) basis depending on the call taken by the heath and home ministries.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday alleged that the government is under-funding the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and asked the Modi dispensation to announce that it will fund the battle with Rs 5-6 lakh crore.

Only 20 per cent of the non-financial companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region face high exposure to coronavirus disruptions and the resultant credit risks, Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday.

Goods and services tax (GST) collection in March fell 8.4% to Rs 97,597 crore, failing to cross the physiologically important Rs 1-lakhcrore level after four months, in what was an indication of a slowdown in the economy.

In a major relief for 23 crore individual vehicle owners and 40 crore citizens, who benefit from a private or state health insurance scheme, the ministry of finance has amended the law and extended validity of insurance papers till April 21, 2020.

Are you dealing with a tough boss? Are your colleagues being mean to you? Is your workplace culture hindering your growth? Is there anything thats bothering you at work, which youre wary of discussing internally? Talk to us. Our panel of experts will assist you in resolving your workplace related matters.

Furloughs, leave without pay, salary cuts, layoffs thats the story across sectors as the pandemic deepens the economic crisis. Employees of US conglomerate Honeywell, which has a large engineering centre and operations in India, have to take two weeks of unpaid leave in April and May.

A US body representing American technology workers has urged President Donald Trump to suspend for this year the H-1B visa programme, the most sought-after among the Indian IT professionals, to protect their interests amidst the massive layoffs due to Covid-19 pandemic. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers.

The standard health insurance policy Arogya Sanjeevani for all 29 general/health insurance companies will now cover hospitalisation under Covid-19, said Irdai.

A bulk of H-1B cap registrations, received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, were for potential beneficiaries (workers) from India. Of the 2.75 lakh registrations received from sponsoring employers wish to depute or hire workers in the US, nearly 67.7% or 1.86 lakh were from India. Registrations were also filed for 36,300 (13.2%) Chinese workers.

Wipro SVP and global head of cyber security and risk services (CRS) Raja Ukil has resigned after 18 years with the firm. Ukils exit comes barely a year after he took charge as the head of CRS. He did several gigs including as chief information officer.