Based on whether you choose the aviation, Bhopal or LIC numbers, and on the official death toll (in the absence of any other verifiable number), the value of human lives lost in the pandemic would range from Rs 16,500 crore to Rs 94,000 crore, explains T N Ninan.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in May announced that there will be a maximum of four public sector companies in strategic sectors, and state-owned firms in other segments will eventually be privatised.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Professor of Economics at Harvard University Raj Chetty have been named by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as '2020 Great Immigrants' honourees, the Corporation said in a statement on Wednesday.
There's no silver bullet to get rid of poverty, says Alok Sheel.
'Rahul inspired Indian industry with an ethos, an ethos of being more confident, more independent, more thorough, more competitive, more generous, more public-spirited, and more national and more international all at once,' remembers Naushad Forbes.
'The honourable prime minister virtually handpicked me for the Amritsar East seat.' 'Amit Shahji announced that if I am elected, the whole of Punjab will be drugs free.'
The jury of the 58th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by Danish photographer Mads Nissen as the World Press Photo of the Year 2014.
'Karenge aur kaam, sir. Zindagi bahut choti hai, ideas bahut sare hain.'
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
Infra sector is neglected by the Modi govt.
Subhash K Jha picks five unforgettable Hindi films that capture the inequality of the caste system.
Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
US President-elect Joe Biden plans to increase the number of high-skilled visas, including H-1B, and eliminate the limit on employment-based visas by country, both of which are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration.
If we basically expect the government to use taxpayers' money to intervene every time when there are some 'sunsets,' then I think you introduce possible moral hazards: Subramanian.
Seven years is a long time for any of Modi's promised actions to show up. If voters are angry and cynical today, it is because the rhetoric stings, argues Ramesh Menon.
Ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini was arrested, on Tuesday, in connection with a probe into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a source close to the investigation said.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday expressed scepticism over allowing corporate ownership in banks given India's weak corporate governance amid large corporate defaults over the past few years. It also said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will face challenges in supervising non-financial sector entities at a time when the health of financial sector is weak. Last week, a RBI panel had proposed that large corporate may be permitted to promote banks, as well as raising the cap on promoters' stake in private sector banks to 26 per cent, from15 per cent at present.
"We have seen the same thing after 2014 (elections) in the name of 'award wapsi', this is just part two of that," the minister said
China and India evoked the highest levels of confidence among major economies at 45 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively. The US was at 36 per cent, Canada at 27 per cent, the UK at 26 per cent, Germany at 20 per cent, France 18 per cent, and Japan having the least optimistic CEOs with only 11 per cent very confident of growing revenues in 2020.
Had Finance Minister Sitharaman thought a little more about the middle class, disadvantaged sections, and the poor who are struggling, it would have been an inclusive Budget that would have made history, notes Ramesh Menon.
Referring to the ugly scenes witnessed in the Rajya Sabha recently and indicating action against those involved, he reminded elected representatives of their responsibilities.
The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of post-retirement employment possibilities for 'Agniveer' like priority in recruitment to the central armed police forces (CAPF) and Assam rifles but that failed to assuage the concerns of the opposition Congress which warned the 'transformative' 'Agnipath' scheme will reduce the operational effectiveness of the armed forces.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza wins the Khel Ratna award. Last week, the Sports Ministry confirmed that Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza had been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
'I hope that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration works with India to address some of the most profound geopolitical transboundary challenges.'
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
Belying all expectations, the Trinamool Congress registreted a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections, overcoming the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party after a bitter campaign that had turned into a virtual duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'Despite the pandemic, we aspire to maintain the momentum of last year.'
Crises are teachers. There are lessons to be learnt from the current one as well, says Suman Bery.
'Our senselessness on caste issue has gone so deep that we need to have a sensitivity test on why we as Indians have become so numb to such mindless violence.'
An astrologer told Ramesh Menon that he was increasingly having worried parents asking him about the future of their children who were showing serious behavioural changes like lack of tolerance towards others, shunning social interaction, and even violent behaviour. They were worried because they had never ever seen such traits in their children before the pandemic.
Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
'The CEA suggested that could be as high as 19 per cent.'
Had he not been a student, admirer and follower of Amartya Sen, T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan feels it might have been a Padma Bhushan.
Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies, may have fled the country, a media report claimed on Thursday.
'The bhadralok would have earlier baulked at the very idea of wearing a coloured dhoti; now, with Dr Banerjee wearing, it is quite likely to be the hot fashion item during Durga Puja next year,' says Uttaran Das Gupta.
Time magazine lists 100 'people who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world'.
'Had these three farm laws existed it would have become a huge election issue.'
Aseem Chhabra lists the films that won his heart at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Jyoti Punwani reports on the strange case of Prashant Rahi, MTech, journalist, activist, now in solitary confinement in a Maharashtra prison.
