'The pandemic ends only when 70 per cent of the world is vaccinated with two doses.'
'The economy will pick up in 2020 or a little later... When it picks up, will it reach 10%, 8% or still lower? It all depends on how realistic are the diagnosis and the prescriptions that follow,' says Professor K J Joseph.
With this subdued forecast, India is likely to record its worst growth performance since the 1991 liberalisation. However, it is among the only two major economies, which will register a positive growth rate in 2020. The other being China, for which the IMF has projected a growth rate of 1.2 per cent.
'Make sure you provide enough support (income, nutrition, healthcare, and housing) to migrants stuck (and their households), so they are not compelled to seek work or migrate back.' 'Otherwise, the risk of contagion is extreme.'
Why did we go into nationwide lockdown when we were adding 100 cases a day and why are we not going into lockdown but allowing cricket stadiums, political rallies and Kumbh Melas when we are adding 40,000 cases a day? asks Aakar Patel.
SARS was an animal disease that jumped the 'species barrier' to infect human beings, according to Science magazine.
The pandemic has brutally highlighted the inadequacy of India's administrative systems. And, the government has demonstrated its culpable inability to speed up vaccination in a timely manner, says Jaimini Bhagwati.
"Though we reiterate our commitment to peace, our defence forces -- the army, the air force and the navy -- are adequately mobilised in a well-coordinated move to thwart any attempt to undermine our security. Our national interest will be protected at all costs. We have also ensured a widespread understanding in the international community of India's firm and principled stand," the President said. India and China are locked in a nearly nine-month long military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
'Investors should reduce cash gradually and look for value investing.'
Millions of people worldwide are having to embrace life under lockdown -- confined to their own four walls or neighbourhoods for weeks on end as countries battle to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Officials working in the building will not be allowed inside the premises from Sunday.
'I have been hearing this for the last four generations, that this is the last generation of superstars.' 'We will not leave it for the younger generation to take it easily.' 'We will not hand it over to them.'
Addressing his council of ministers in a video conference, Modi asked them to prepare business continuity plans to fight the economic impact of COVID-19 on a war footing, but also asserted that this crisis is an opportunity to boost the 'Make-in-India' initiative and reduce dependence on other countries.
'We need to retell this history from many different perspectives.'
Details of the Trump's executive order were not immediately known.
We have no standard processes in place to address the more serious public health hazard of our lifetime, observes Aakar Patel.
'Like doctors, health workers, police, bankers are also COVID warriors,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
The best available recourse to keep the defence sector healthy, is to source most of our requirement within the country so that procurement outlays under both the Revenue and Capital heads flow within the country, recommends says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Our government's claim that there are no undetected cases of infection that happened within our bustling cities because of exposure to infected international travellers are not credible,' notes Rahul Jacob.
Usually, a fall in oil prices is followed with a cut in retail prices of auto fuels and the government passes on the benefit to consumers. However, Morgan Stanley believes gains this time around will remain capped.
This barefoot pilgrimage home we're seeing all around us, and the way plenty of us have reacted to it, is not just a commentary on India, circa 2020. It also shames us forever, notes Dilip D'Souza.
In his address at an extraordinary video conference of the G-20 leaders, Modi also urged the grouping to come out with a concrete action plan to fight the pandemic and said human beings rather than economic targets should be put at the centre of its vision for global prosperity and cooperation.
An FFT statement said it had consulted with the ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation (ITF) to allow the Roland-Garros showpiece the benefit of an extra week.
The world is slowly going into lockdown trying to stop the spread of the dangerous coronavirus disease, leading to cities and famous attractions turning eerily deserted. Many streets, train stations, mass transit systems and restaurants are now eerily empty. You can scarcely avoid seeing images of the emptiness -- the cleared streets and squares of St Petersburg, the missing throngs outside the temples of Kyoto, the abandoned restaurants in most Chinatowns, some of which have had to close. This astonishing moment when the world hit pause on normal life will never be forgotten by those who lived through it. Take a look.
India's curve, yet to flatten vis-a-vis countries with similar or more conservative plans to ease restrictions, still points to 'exponential growth', despite India having tested much fewer people.
'...but from those who control the narrative.' Powerful nations have mastered this art of narrative building. Those nations who aspire to become global powers must do so, observes Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Stating that an economic recession gripped global economy following the lockdowns due to COVID-19 pandemic, Fitch Ratings on Friday said the initial disruptions to regional manufacturing supply chains in China have now broadened to include local discretionary spending and exports.
Chess grandmasters resume COVID-delayed tournament in Russia
India took the first step towards legalising drones by officially publishing draft rules for drone operations in the Official Gazette on Friday. The rules, termed The Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, are open for public consultation for 30 days.
'Kerala is probably the only state, where (with regard to) the clinical management and the overall protocols, we have an infectious disease team heading the whole containment plan.'
India's 100 top billionaires have seen their fortunes increase by Rs 12,97,822 crore since March last year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and this amount is enough to give 13.8 crore poorest Indians a cheque for Rs 94,045 each.
'The current financial year will see the full impact of this crisis, and we will start seeing the recovery in the next financial year.'
From India's fight against COVID-19 to China face-off, Kovind spoke on several issues during the televised address.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
The problem has been compounded since the worm keeps on mutating with new variants and a large number of companies and small and medium businesses have not yet fixed their machines with an emergency patch-up (MS08-067) provided by Microsoft in October 2008 as well as this month. Anti-virus company F-Secure estimates that 15 million machines have been infected till date, making it the worst outbreak of its kind since a worm called Slammer in 2003.
'Our only request to the Indian government is that they should act fast and send a plane to evacuate us as people around us are dying'
'At a time when the economy is depressed, a pandemic is raging, and the Chinese are making noises on the border, the NRC could be resuscitated.'
With nearly 100 countries closing national borders during the past month, the movement of people and tourism flows have come to a screeching halt. The contraction could be even higher if governments fail to provide income support and help boost consumer spending.
'The COVID-19 pandemic must push the military into a long-term reconsideration of its primary challenges.' 'There must be greater emphasis on humanitarian aid and disaster relief including the management of contagious illnesses and impending crises caused by climate change,' notes Ajai Shukla.
