The Evening Wrap Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today. Covid-19 watch: Numbers and Developments The number of Covid-19 cases in India has crossed 50,000. At the time of publishing this newsletter, the number of cases stood at 51,269, with the death toll at 1,761. One story that broke last evening: the Telangana government has extended the lockdown in the state till May 29. At a press conference, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said the lockdown was extended to ensure more effective implementation of the restrictions aimed at tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. West Bengal has recorded its highest jump in Covid-19 cases, with 112 new cases recorded, while four persons have died in the past 24 hours. Containment zones have increased in Kolkata and South 24 Parganas. Flights delayed For thousands of Indians stranded abroad, the wait to return home has become slightly longer. The government’s plan to send 64 flights to 12 countries was deferred on Wednesday by 24 to 48 hours. According to our reporting, multiple government sources confirmed that the delay was because Air India crew are required to undergo Covid-19 tests. “Destination countries require the crew to be Covid-19 negative. There are a significant number of pilots and cabin crew who are required to undergo the test at a short notice,” a government official said. As per the original plan, flights from six countries were scheduled to land on May 7, but will now do so either on May 8 or 9. An update also on the charges Indian citizens must pay for their travel back home. Remember, this is not an evacuation but more of a coordinated commercial operation. So, it’s not only those returning by train and flight who will have to pay. The government has decided that passengers who will be brought back by Indian naval ships will also be charged for the service. While the charges will be “reasonable” or nominal, a final decision on the exact amounts will be taken in the coming days. Hizbul Commander killed Wanted Hizbul Mujahideen “operational commander” Riyaz Naikoo is among the four militants killed by security forces in south Kashmir, the authorities said. Internet and calling facilities in the Valley were cut off today as “a precautionary measure”. Naikoo was trapped, along with his associate, in his native village of Beighpora on Tuesday night when security forces encircled him in a pre-dawn operation, government sources said. His attempt to break the cordon was foiled as he was trapped in a residential locality. “Yes, Naikoo is among the two militants killed in the Beighpora operation, which was launched in the night,” a senior police officer said. Arogya Setu: Breached? Following allegations by the French hacker Robert Baptiste that the Arogya Setu app had security vulnerabilities, the team working on the application issued a clarification yesterday that no personal information of any user is at risk and that there was no security breach. To back up his claims, Baptiste today unleashed a mini-storm on social media when he said, in a series of tweets, “Yesterday, an attacker was able to know who is infected, unwell, made a self assessment in the area of his choice. Basically, I was able to see if someone was sick at the PMO office or the Indian parliament. I was able to see if someone was sick in a specific house if I wanted.” He then added, for good measure, “And yes, yesterday: - 5 people felt unwell at the PMO office - 2 unwell at the Indian Army Headquarters - 1 infected people at the Indian parliament - 3 infected at the Home Office. Should I continue?” Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, on May 2, that the app was a sophisticated surveillance system” and said it raised “serious data security and privacy concerns.” On the same day, Baptiste had also sent out a tweet saying, “Rahul Gandhi tweeted about the Aarogya app. I guess I’m forced to look at it now.” The main point being made by Baptiste, as well as many leading cyber-security experts, is that the source code of the Arogya Setu app should be open source, as that is the best way to make it robust. “Singapore did it. Israel did it. Iceland did it….Your turn @SetuAarogya,” tweeted Baptiste, calling for the source code to be published. “Borrow, don’t tax” Another story that broke late yesterday, is the hike in excise duty on petrol by ₹10 per litre and on diesel by ₹13 a litre. The hike would enable the government to mop up gains arising from the fall in international oil prices, which have touched a two-decade low. PTI reports that the “cash-strapped government will gain close to ₹1.6 lakh crore in additional revenues this fiscal from a record increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel. This will help make up for the revenue it lost in a slowing economy and the shutting down of businesses due to the coronavirus lockdown.” Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram slammed the move today, saying governments must borrow to meet their deficits and not impose higher tax burdens when economic activity has ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tax burdens on the middle class and the poor is actually taxing distress, he said in a series of tweets. India’s economy contracted 15% Bloomberg today reported that the services purchasing managers index (PMI) for India “plunged by 43.9 points to 5.4 in April, the lowest in the world, hitting single digits for the first time and staying below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion”. Given that the services sector makes up more than half of India’s GDP, the steep fall in the PMI is a sign of the mammoth devastation in an economy hit by Covid-19. India’s manufacturing activity has also seen a sharp dip. Taken together, historical comparisons of the PMI with the GDP suggest that the Indian economy contracted by a whopping 15% in April, the report said, citing the data published by IHS Markit, an information services firm. Bengal-Centre spar again Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha asking the State government to comply with directions from the Centre to allow vehicles carrying essential goods to cross the border into Bangladesh. As a result of the State government’s non-compliance, a large number of trucks carrying essential supplies to Bangladesh are stranded at different border crossing points, Bhalla’s letter said. The Bengal government, on its part, has been unhappy over not being consulted on the resumption of trade through the international border. Sinha said the State has the final say on the easing of the restrictions imposed following the lockdown. “We do not want the people to suffer. But every notification of the Centre said the State will have the final word on easing restrictions,” he said. In Brief: Did the authorities fail to read the signs that the Koyambedu market in North Chennai could be a hotspot for the coronavirus? The signs were there for all to see, writes The Hindu’s Tamil Nadu bureau chief Ramya Kannan as Chennai continues to see a surge in cases. The city “showed a high preponderance in its northern parts, which have a density of about 27,000 people per square km. The population density in Chennai, and Koyambedu market, are among the key reasons that make physical distancing difficult in the city.” Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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