17th April – Editorials/Opinions Analyses
Contents Masks, fines for spitting: Window to new normal Explained: How COVID-19 can help deal with the silent tuberculosis crisis A blueprint to revive the economy India must do all it can to help the migrant workers stranded in West Asia Telemedicine can reach patients where access to medical care is difficult Will the aviation […]
NO LOCKDOWN FOR ABUSE
Why in news? The National Commission of Women has recorded a more than two-fold rise in domestic violence and sexual assaults and a three-fold increase in cases of police apathy in the first week of lockdown since March 24th 2020. In China, France, the U.K. and other countries, there have been reports of a significant […]
FINANCING THE PANDEMIC RESCUE PACKAGE
The Current Predicament The priority for India is to ensure that it overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic and kick-starts GDP growth rather than fix the weaknesses in the macroeconomy: a high fiscal deficit of 7.49% and government indebtedness that was 69% of GDP in 2019. The Government’s financing strategy should be to raise long-term funds at […]
A KEY ARSENAL IN RURAL INDIA’S PANDEMIC FIGHT
Ground Realities in Villages- COVID-19 Lockdown With the influx of thousands of migrant labourers into their villages, there is an imminent need to isolate them for at least 14 days. Unfortunately, the houses here, which are often one or two-room dwellings, with an average seven family members to accommodate, are some of the worst places […]
WHILE TAKING OVER MPLADS FUNDS, CENTRE MUST ALLOCATE JUDICIOUSLY
Why in news? The suspension of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years to boost the funding available for the COVID-19 fight is a step in the right direction. Why this move is a step in the right direction? It may appear at first blush that the decision may undermine […]
NEEDED, GREATER DECENTRALISATION OF POWER
Why in news? Over the course of the last few weeks, as we have found ourselves in the throes of a pandemic, one of the striking features of governance has been the signal role played by State Chief Ministers across India. What did the Governments do? Even before the Union government invoked the Disaster Management […]
CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN: FACTORS COUNTRIES SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN LIFTING RESTRICTIONS
Why in news? As China seems to have “flattened the curve” of its coronavirus cases and is no longer the country with the highest number of infected people or with the highest death toll, all eyes are going to be on it in the coming weeks, as restrictions are slowly lifted on residents after over […]
EXPLAINED: CYTOKINE STORMS — OR WHEN THE BODY’S OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM LEADS TO COVID-19 DEATHS
Why in news? Evidence is emerging that a subset of the infected patients develop severe COVID-19 because of an overreaction of their immune systems, which triggers what is known as a “cytokine storm syndrome” (CSS). Who are vulnerable? Various studies have shown that the disease has more severe consequences for those above the age of […]
THE SPECTRE OF A POST-COVID-19 WORLD
Why in news? As COVID-19 spreads exponentially across the world, and the figures of those testing positive as also the numbers of deaths keep increasing in near-geometrical progression, profound uncertainty and extreme volatility are wreaking havoc of a kind seldom encountered previously. It might, hence, be wise to start thinking of what next, if at […]
SAFE FORESTS, SAFE PEOPLE: ZOONOTIC DISEASES
The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has brought into sharp focus the entry of pathogens originally found in wild animals into the humans In the recent years, the diseases of such nature that have raised alarm are: Ebola, HIV, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, bird flu and swine flu The origins […]