As the Pandemic Accelerates, How Equipped Is India’s Healthcare System?
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As the Pandemic Accelerates, How Equipped Is India’s Healthcare System?

Soumitra Ghosh As per recent data, India now has 1,117 active COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. Quite alarmingly, the known respiratory disease COVID-19 cases have increased exponentially in the last couple of weeks. Even in a mild scenario with an attack rate of 5-10% and a…

Myths, Rumours and Spectacles in India’s Fight Against COVID-19
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Myths, Rumours and Spectacles in India’s Fight Against COVID-19

    Brahma Prakash The act could have been named divine comedy, but it was not poetic. In fact, it was anti-poetic. Let’s call it India’s divine formula to defeat COVID-19. The play can be named Burning Corona Down. It was April 5, 2020. As soon as the clock struck 9 pm, the nation that…

While the World Fights COVID-19, Indians are Busy Communalising It
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While the World Fights COVID-19, Indians are Busy Communalising It

Sanjiv Krishan Sood One foolhardy action by the Tablighi Jamaat has given a boost to the Hindutva brigade. They have seized the opportunity with both hands to blame the entire Muslim community for the spread of COVID-19. This has also helped draw public attention away from the official mismanagement of the pandemic and the monumental…

When Economists Try to Solve Health Crises, the Results Can Often Be Disastrous
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When Economists Try to Solve Health Crises, the Results Can Often Be Disastrous

  Justin Podur I’m writing this at 585,000 worldwide active cases, 26,000 deaths, and with only China and Korea seemingly under some sort of control (using a social metric tool, Worldometer). The stimulus package announced by the U.S. government is at $2 trillion, but without job protections, rent freezes, or meaningful income support for most…

‘Too Soon to Say Lockdown Was Needed,’ Says Modi Economic Adviser
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‘Too Soon to Say Lockdown Was Needed,’ Says Modi Economic Adviser

  Karan Thapar This is an excerpted transcript from the interview given by V. Anantha Nageswaran, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, to Karan Thapar. It is a glaring reflection of how economists and elites think in this time of unprecedented crisis. For them, rather than ramp up government spending to alleviate…

Coronavirus Pandemic: The Policies We Need to Be Ready for the Long Haul
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Coronavirus Pandemic: The Policies We Need to Be Ready for the Long Haul

  Abhinash Borah, Sabyasachi Das, Aparajita Dasgupta, Ashwini Deshpande, Kanika Mahajan, Bharat Ramaswami, Anuradha Saha, Anisha Sharma There is a lot that is unknown about SARS-COV-2, but the world’s leading epidemiologists believe that its spread will be a long-drawn process. It will take at least 18 months for a vaccine to become available, and even…

Concerned Citizens’ Response to FM’s COVID 19 Relief Package
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Concerned Citizens’ Response to FM’s COVID 19 Relief Package

Courtesy: The Caravan, 27 March 2020 Emergency measures proposed and endorsed by 635 people only half-met Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a 1.7 lakh crore package to deal with the economic fallout of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While we welcome that the Union Government is finally addressing this issue, it would have been…

What Doesn’t Add Up in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Relief Package for India’s Poor
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What Doesn’t Add Up in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Relief Package for India’s Poor

Kabir Agarwal, Anuj Srivas How impactful will finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s relief package for India’s poorest actually end up being? The Narendra Modi government unveiled the contours of the Rs 1.7 lakh crore package on Thursday, with a promise that it was for people who needed immediate help – like migrant workers, and the urban…

Two Days Into Lockdown, Sitharaman Announces Rs 1.7 Lakh Crore Package to Help Poorest
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Two Days Into Lockdown, Sitharaman Announces Rs 1.7 Lakh Crore Package to Help Poorest

The Wire Staff, 26 March 2020 Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a much-awaited relief package for India’s poor and migrant workers, who have been hit hardest by the 21-day national lockdown that is aimed at tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan’ scheme, worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore or slightly less…

Avenger Planet:  Is the Covid-19 Pandemic Mother Nature’s Response to Human Transgression?
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Avenger Planet: Is the Covid-19 Pandemic Mother Nature’s Response to Human Transgression?

Michael T. Klare As the coronavirus sweeps across the planet, leaving death and mayhem in its wake, many theories are being expounded to explain its ferocity. One, widely circulated within right-wing conspiracy circles, is that it originated as a biological weapon developed at a secret Chinese military lab in the city of Wuhan that somehow…