France today increasingly resembles the Italy of the past, when governments fell with bewildering regularity, prime ministers came and went in rapid succession, and political instability became the norm rather than the exception, point out Krishnan Srinivasan and Manoj Mohanka.
'A hundred days later, it is a moot point whether the lockdown has been partially or totally effective, or, as sceptics indicate, plain ineffective.' 'Did it actually deflect infections and the loss of lives, or was it merely a hasty decision rammed down the populace's throats that choked the economy and caused the searing tragedy of dispossessed migrant workers?' ask Radha Roy Biswas and Manoj Mohanka.
'The phone rang on the night of January 15.' 'The voice of an Indian family friend in Venezuela came on.' 'That morning, there had been an accident on the highway'. 'My father had died on the spot.' Radha Roy Biswas reveals her heart-warming and heart-breaking relation with a country drowning in economic chaos.
oaring crime gave Venezuela the horrific title of being one of the most violent countries on earth. Inflation ran into tens of thousands per cent, impoverishing nearly all of the country's 31 million people.' Yet, says Radha Roy Biswas, she sees hope for the beleaguered nation where she spent her childhood years.
Devastation struck Venezuela when oil prices started collapsing in 1982, following a global oil glut. The country's economy contracted overnight.
As Venezuelans continue to flee the starvation, crime and the horrific inflation that continues to mark the worst crisis it has ever faced, Radha Biswas looks back at a devastated country she continues to love deeply.
While Prime Minister Modi grapples with serious matters of State so very successfully, may I urge that he focus just a bit of attention on the economy, says Manoj Mohanka.