Biz EOD: Airlines in war mode; MSMEs to resume operations; auto dealers cry for help

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) asked industry bodies to submit plans as to how they would ensure discipline in factories and arrange protective gears for staff. With no customers to fly, India's aviation sector has got into war mode with goods, crisscrossing the country, and abroad, with massive cargo haul to ensure availability of supplies, particularly medical cargo. Automobile dealers have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to support the industry, which is in dire straits due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy:

1. Coronavirus lockdown: Small manufacturers to resume operations; govt seeks action plan

As per DPIIT, industries manufacturing heavy electrical items, telecom equipment, fertilisers, defence equipment and automotive parts among others have been proposed to be allowed to resume operations.

2. Airlines in coronavirus war mode: 7 lakh km, 626 flights, 4,300 tonnes cargo

Passenger-less airlines have been busy crisscrossing the country and the world hauling essential and medical cargo.

3. India's retail inflation eases to 5.91% in March

The retail inflation stood at 6.58 per cent in February 2020 and 2.86 per cent in March 2019, as per the CPI data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

4. 'Help or we will die': Auto dealers send SOS to PM Modi amid coronavirus lockdown

Industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has predicted an over 20 per cent decline in sales this fiscal in the worst-case scenario of the GDP growing at less than 1 per cent during the year.

5. Coronavirus in India: Two MPC members share mantra to contain economic fallout

These two external members in the committee, also professors of economics, have given their views on the monetary policy direction and also the steps and the adequacy of the fiscal policy measures.