From the editors: UAE cracks the whip on COVID-19 offenders and Indian banking woes deepen

COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR HOTELS MUST BE ADHERED TO: Dubai Municipality’s decision to carry out stringent checks on hotels in the emirate to ensure their compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols could not have come at a more opportune moment. In the last few weeks, a lax attitude on the part of residents and some business establishments has led to an alarming rise in the number of newly-infected people. Given Dubai’s popularity as a tourist and business destination, hotels here usually have impressive guest numbers. As a result, compliance with regulations is absolutely essential and hotels must ensure that they follow the guidelines in screening visitors and staff and adhering to all related safety measures at all times. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

CAN LEBANON BE SAVED FROM ITS POLITICIANS? Weeks ago, the world was treated to the surreal spectacle of a foreign political leader being asked by Lebanon’s citizens to ‘save them’ from their own ruling class, in power since the end of the Civil War in 1990. While French President Emmanuel Macron’s strong role in Lebanese politics can be construed as interference, the reality is Lebanese politicians are to blame for this. A case in point: In 2018, a donors conference pledged $11 billion in aid to Lebanon - conditional upon reforms to be carried out. Alas, those reforms would hurt the corrupt patronage systems of the politicians, and hence, they did not pass the reform bills. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

JUST 48 DAYS AFTER LAST SEASON'S DELAYED CONCLUSION: The Premier League returned with a bang. Even as Mo Salah’s hat-trick lit up an empty Anfield on the return of the Premier League and Liverpool avoided an embarrassing opening-day flop, the plaudits must go to Leeds United. On their return to the top-flight after a 16-year absence, Marcelo Bielsa’s men served up a classic feast of goals to open the 2020-21 campaign. Leeds went down 4-3 to the reigning champions but did more than enough to serve notice that they will be a real handful for the top-flight heavyweights. [COMMENT BY: Matthew Smith, Sports Editor]

WHEN THE WORST TURNS OUT WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED: The Indian banking sector wasn’t in great shape even before the Covid-19 outbreak. The pandemic has only made matters worse. A report by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) expert committee on a resolution framework notes that the pandemic ‘has affected the best of companies’ and businesses that were otherwise viable before the outbreak, leaving the prospect of an inevitable bulge in bad loans. While the loan moratorium served as a short-term buffer, banks will soon be required to make provisions for impaired loans. Indian banks may have been preparing for the ‘worst’, but that ‘worst’ appears worse than what they anticipated. [COMMENT BY: Babu Das Augustine, Business Editor]

TOO SOON TO BE THINKING OF RAJPUT MOVIE: Filmmakers in India have been rushing to register titles to make movies about actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide on June 14 and the ‘encounter killing’ of gangster Vikas Dubey. Rajput’s death in particular has captured the imagination of the Indian public and is reminiscent of the intense coverage of the 2008 murders of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade. Years later, that case was covered in the sensitive and carefully made movie ‘Talvar’. However, Rajput’s tragic death is still too fresh and talk of making a movie while the investigation is still ongoing is disrespectful to his still-mourning family and all the people who have been sucked into this swirling vortex. [COMMENT BY: Jennifer Barretto, Assistant Editor - Features]