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The worst stage of coronavirus pandemic became visible in the US when the Donald Trump government reported that employers cut over 7 lakh jobs in the first two weeks of March -- close to the May 2009 financial crisis peak of 800,000 job losses.

India's information technology sector is expected to post either flat or negative growth in 2020 due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic globally, an IT industry veteran said on Saturday.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has extended the validity of Form 15G and Form 15H till June 30, 2020. These two forms are normally filed by tax payers, whose income is not taxable - to avoid taxation.

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.

Facing repeated complaints over issue of passes for essential services, the government on Friday eased rules as part of its latest set of efforts to supply goods and services during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

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 RBI has restricted operating hours for all the markets that it regulates from 10am to 2pm until April 17. The shorter hours will not impact retail bank customers as all their regular banking services — including Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and e-Kuber facilities — will continue to be available according to extant timings.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday announced that it is temporarily extending the validity of airworthiness review certificate (ARC) of all aircraft, which are permitted to operate during the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus, till July 3.

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. The Sensex plummeted 674.36 points or 2.39 per cent to close at 27,590.95 on Friday. Selling in markets led to a decline in market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies which tumbled to Rs 1,08,66,722.96 cr in two days.

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. That was the worst job loss since March 2009 during the depths of the global financial crisis, and the biggest jump in the jobless rate in more than 45 years, the report said.

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% projected earlier, as economic recession gripped global economy following the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic. On March 20, Fitch had projected India's GDP growth for 2020-21 at 5.1%, lower than 5.6% estimated in Dec 2019.

The revised market timings will be effective during April 7-17, 2020, the central bank said in a circular on Friday. The market will open at 10 am instead of the current 9 am and closing timings too have been revised to 2 pm for all segments. The lockdown has adversely impacted the functioning of financial markets, the RBI said.

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 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.

Equity benchmark sensex slumped over 650 points on Friday, dragged by banking, financial and auto stocks as investor sentiment continued to be weighed down by uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact. The 30-share BSE index fell 674 points or 2.39 per cent to close at 27,591; while the broader NSE Nifty settled below 8,100.

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.

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.

Air India will operate 18 charter flights to fly back German, French, Irish and Canadian nationals during the lockdown.While the Germans and French will be flown to Frankfurt and Paris (AI’s regular stations), the other two nationalities will be taken to London Heathrow from where Canada and Ireland will make further travel arrangements.