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. A ₹20-lakh-crore relief package In his much awaited address to the nation today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ₹20-lakh-crore relief package to help revive an economy hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The details of the package will be shared by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tomorrow. At ₹20 lakh crore, the quantum of the relief package works out to about 10% of the GDP. Modi said that the singular idea behind this relief package, as well as the larger economic philosophy going forward, is ‘self-reliance’. Speaking of an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ or a national movement to promote self-reliance, the PM said that the government’s efforts towards economic revival will focus on four nodal areas: land, labour, liquidity and laws. Building further on the theme of self-reliance, he appealed to the people to get ‘vocal about local’ -- that is, to buy locally made products to promote Indian industry and entrepreneurship. The PM further said that lockdown 4.0 will have new rules, and the details regarding those will be made public before May 18. The ongoing lockdown 3.0 ends on May 17. A Tax Holiday for Investors? The commerce ministry is reportedly proposing a tax holiday for companies bringing new investments to India as the government explores various measures to kickstart the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The development was first reported by Bloomberg. The proposal being evaluated is to give a 10-year full tax exemption to companies making new investments upwards of $500 million. It requires companies to start operations within three years from June 1, and will cover sectors such as medical devices, electronics, telecom equipment, and capital goods. Covid Watch: Numbers and developments India’s coronavirus tally stands at 72,432 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 2,329. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, speaking today before the Prime Minister’s address to the nation, said India’s coronavirus recovery rate is improving everyday and that a total of 22,455 patients have recovered so far from the infection. Our data analysis today, comparing major parameters across 46 nations, found that severity of the lockdown matters less than testing rates when it comes to curbing the spread of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have operated 31 inbound flights during the first five days of the Vande Bharat mission, bringing home 6,037 Indians who were stranded abroad amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. Maharashtra decongests jails A high-powered committee appointed by the Maharashtra government has decided to temporarily release around 50% of the prisoners to decongest jails across the State in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision comes after over 100 inmates and staff at the Arthur Road Jail in central Mumbai tested positive for Covid-19. A 54-year-old inmate of the Byculla women’s jail also tested positive for coronavirus last week. The panel also said that prisoners convicted or booked on serious charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and stringent provisions such as the MCOCA, UAPA and PMLA will not be released on temporary bail or parole. The panel was set up after the Supreme Court in March called for decongestion of prisons across the country in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tensions in the East Tensions are high along the India-China border in the Pangong Tso lake area in Eastern Ladakh. Earlier this week, nearly 250 soldiers from both sides were engaged in a violent face-off that left many of them injured. At least a couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the undemarcated Sino-India border in the area, after the fierce face-off on May 5. A fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) also carried out sorties there, sources said. In Brief: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) today said that 27 million Indians, in the age group 20-30 years, lost their jobs in April 2020 following the nationwide lockdown. Nirav Modi’s legal team on May 12 told the U.K. court that is hearing the fugitive diamond merchant’s five-day extradition trial, that the case of fraud and money laundering against him is not backed by evidence proving his dishonesty. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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