The Evening Wrap Welcome to The Evening Wrap, your guide to the day’s major news developments with concise analysis from The Hindu. After a turbulent few days we are shifting focus from the Delhi violence to troubling signs for the economy emerging today. Here are today’s top stories: Virus Hit The stock markets saw carnage today with the Sensex logging its second-biggest one-day fall in history, wiping off ₹5.45 lakh crore in investor wealth. This is part of a global trend of investor panic over the rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which seems to have triggered a manic global sell-off. World markets, on a downward spiral, have posted their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The fear is that the spread of COVID-19 could trigger a global recession, with the list of countries hit by the disease growing to 57. New Zealand, Nigeria, Azerbaijan and the Netherlands are latest to report their first cases. Still Sluggish India’s economy continued to grow at a sluggish pace in the three-month period till December 2019, according to official statistics released by the government today. GDP growth was recorded at 4.7% for the third quarter. This breaks six straight quarters of deceleration. So what changed? Steady agricultural output and government spending on infrastructure are being seen as key factors. The gains, however, are marginal. PTI reports that GDP growth was 5.6% in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, confirming a steady downward trend. During the nine-month period (April-December 2019), the Indian economy grew 5.1%, as against 6.3% in the corresponding period a year ago. More worryingly, if today’s stock market trends are any indication, the spread of COVID-19 is only going to stifle India’s growth prospects. Blame Game Starts Some quick numbers on the Delhi communal violence situation, as reported by our correspondents. The death toll has now gone up to 42, with four more fatalities being recorded at the city’s GTB Hospital. The number was 38 yesterday. Nearly 7,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the affected areas to assist hundreds of Delhi police personnel. Thanks to the massive deployment of force, a fragile calm prevailed. A total of 123 FIRs have been registered, while 630 people have been either arrested or detained in connection with the violence, Delhi police said. Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal visited the violence-hit areas. The Congress has constituted a five-member team to visit the affected localities. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday lashed out at the Congress for submitting a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind. The memorandum had called for Union Home Minister Amit Shah to be sacked. Meanwhile, Shah has accused the Opposition of “fomenting the riots”. In Brief One of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, Pawan Kumar Gupta, has moved a curative plea in the Supreme Court seeking commutation of his death penalty to life imprisonment. He is the lone convict among the four who has not exhausted his legal remedies of filing a curative petition and, subsequently, a mercy plea with the President. A day after it gave the police four weeks to decide if it wants to file FIRs against BJP leaders who allegedly gave inflammatory speeches, the Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Central and Delhi governments, as well as the Delhi Police, on an impleadment plea seeking FIRs against activist Harsh Mander, actor Swara Bhaskar, radio jockey RJ Sayema, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan and others. A new Bill to give 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in educational institutions in Maharashtra will be introduced in the assembly soon, a minister in the State government said. This Bill will be tabled during the budget session of the Maharashtra assembly. Delhi’s AAP government has finally given its nod to the prosecution of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in a long-pending sedition case. Kumar is accused of chanting “anti-national” slogans during an event in the JNU campus in February 2016. The application to prosecute him had been pending with the Delhi government since January 2019. That’s it for this edition of The Evening Wrap. We’ll be back on Monday. | 
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