Andhrapradesh out to break Tablighi deadly chain

Amaravati: The AP government has launched a massive 'Covidiot hunt' to trace all those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat at Hazrat Nizamuddin in New Delhi between March 15 and 17 from Andhra Pradesh and have now spread all over the State to continue interacting with the members of the community at various levels.

With the unforeseen damage done, all that the government could do now is to trace each and every one of them and put them under quarantine after due tests. The members of the community who took part in religious activities locally and the family members of all of them and those who interacted in the neighbourhood have all to be identified and tested now. The chain could be harrowing and long. The nightmare has only begun.

Yet another challenge before the government is also to assemble the test kits and line up the beds, doctors and the nursing staff and if need be the ventilators. Initially, the government was smug under the impression that the threat was from only the international travelers. Now, these travelers seem so miniscule in number despite being around 28,000 or so as they could somehow be traced and forced into home quarantine.

"Bank of Baroda is providing a moratorium of 3 months on payment of a ll instalments falling due between 01.03.20 & 31.05.20 for all term loans in cluding corporate, MSME, agriculture, retail, housing, auto, personal loans, etc. in pursuance of the RBI COVID-19 Regulatory Package," the PSU bank said in a tweet. Analysts and experts tracking the sector said that simple interest rate would be calculated by banks for the three-month period in which loan repayment was due but was not paid under the moratorium. This would be added up into your EMIs at the end of three-month forbearance, raising your monthly bill.

So, if you're deferring payment of an EMI of, say Rs 1,000, and the bank is charging interest at the rate 10 per cent on outstanding, you will end up paying Rs 25 extra on each of the three EMIs that has not been paid during the moratorium. This additional interest may either be added up to all your future EMIs or your loan tenure could get extended at the same EMI level.

While the clarity has not been offered by banks, the EMI deferment would actually benefit customers to defer two instalments falling due in the months of April and May as from June regular EMI payment will start.