Columns, Leading Columns, Indian Express Columns

The Post-Covid World

March 30, 2020 12:30:31 pm

What the threat of contagion is going to do to how we socialise

Rope in civil society to ease supply of food

March 30, 2020 9:39:45 am

Retail distribution lines need to be seamlessly linked to wholesale supply lines.

Cancellation of Olympics, quarantine, are not easy. But they are necessary.

March 30, 2020 9:39:54 am

It is important for everyone to be patient. In these grim times, medals will be the last things on the minds of sportspersons.

Amid lockdown, we need action plan to manage our agriculture, livestock sectors

March 30, 2020 9:18:32 am

The government must start planning now to prevent post-lockdown chaos, especially profiteering in the event of shortages. Smooth recovery from the lockdown is as important as managing supplies during the lockdown.

Coronavirus pandemic: How to meet rural challenge

March 30, 2020 9:45:40 am

Disruption in economic activities in urban areas has pushed migrant labourers back to their villages. This calls for a strategy for new hotspots.

Keeping poor safe in lockdown is state responsibility, not an act of charity

March 30, 2020 9:44:51 am

Leaving migrant workers to fend for themselves and forcing them to return to their villages will only enable the spread of coronavirus. In this regard, a clear distinction in the provision of aid for the urban and the rural poor must be made so that resources are better allocated amongst the poor.

A prescription for action: Nine steps after the next 21 days

March 29, 2020 2:34:02 pm

Even if lockdown flattens the curve, COVID-19 will spread. Looking at migrants on the road, let’s expect a mess — and plan for it, write Nobel Laureate economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo

Unpreparedness has been the hallmark of Modi government since the first Covid-19 case

March 29, 2020 9:36:40 am

Not only was the country not prepared for a nationwide lockdown, even the Central government was unprepared. How can one otherwise explain the fact that the Economic Task Force announced by the PM on March 19 has not been constituted so far?

Does PM Narendra Modi trust us enough to tell us what his strategy is?

March 29, 2020 6:22:47 pm

It is only when he shows that he trusts us enough to give us some idea of what he plans to do to bring us safely through this terrible battle, that has no battlefield and no visible enemy, will we be able to trust him to lead us from these days of darkness to light.

Only time will tell whether Modi’s biggest gamble will pay off or the solution proves more lethal than Covid-19

March 29, 2020 10:18:11 am

Opposition politicians complain privately that because of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an excuse to wriggle out of accountability for the declining economy since there is now a global financial crisis.

Does coronavirus transmit from mother to child? A question every expectant mother is asking now

March 29, 2020 9:53:37 am

The ‘Don’t panic’ message is not going to register in my head. I’ve made my peace with that at least. The anxiety and fear are palpable.

Amidst lockdown, poor need karuna

March 29, 2020 6:54:37 am

The poor cannot afford social distancing. If they cannot work in the metros, they have to flee to their rural homes. They can’t stay indoors as they live outdoors. They rush back on crowded trains and buses or walk.

COVID pandemic has exposed fragility of global society, governance — and pointed to the way forward

March 28, 2020 10:34:42 am

Shashi Tharoor, Samir Saran write: Many will find in this pandemic an opportunity to close themselves off to the international community. India must defy such impulses. If anything, Indian leadership in these times — and a new resolve for global governance — may be just the vaccine that the international community needs to navigate a new decade.

Ayyappa and the Court: SC needs CEO to streamline functioning, reduce burden on CJI

March 28, 2020 11:01:18 am

Where immediacy is pre-eminent so that fait accompli may not be created (as with the validity of the Kashmir notifications, the CAA and the electoral bonds), there have been no effective hearings at the interim stage. Thus, the status quo slowly cements itself.

First stimulus by Centre targets poor, later announcements should keep the financial system running

March 28, 2020 10:49:41 am

Some observers are also concerned about what high deficits would do to India’s credit ratings. It remains to be seen how agencies respond to globally large fiscal deficits monetised by central banks; India may not be an outlier here.

Stimulus is less than what it appears to be, govt must do more for farmers

March 28, 2020 11:13:59 am

Farmers have wholeheartedly voted for the PM twice; it is the time he reciprocated the feelings and returned the favour. Every season has an end for a harvest to begin.

Lockdown announcement has not been matched by national strategy — on containing fallout for poor

March 28, 2020 10:33:53 am

PB Mehta writes: India has never understood that health expenditure is not expenditure; it is investment. The success of the lockdown strategy is premised on an unprecedentedly vigorous building up of health infrastructure to fight the pandemic.

The need of the hour is for Centre to release funds for states to fight COVID-19

March 27, 2020 10:51:10 am

Team India is in this together. The prime minister must ensure our states have the resources to fight, and overcome, COVID-19.

Let’s use follower’s advantage: We could learn to fight Covid-19 from South Korea

March 27, 2020 12:14:02 pm

In confronting coronavirus, India’s first moves have been right, but much will depend on follow-up. We could learn from South Korea.

State’s measures to fight coronavirus are stripping the poor of dignity and hope

March 27, 2020 1:04:32 pm

Harsh Mander writes: The Indian government found it fit to charter planes with medical staff to fly in migrants from other countries. But it felt no responsibility at all to the millions of migrants stranded without work and food in every corner of the country.

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