'Both the Centre and the states cannot say that they have been taking good care of public health.'
Other strong men have stopped Modi and his hordes in states before, but none of them with a footprint or battle cry to shake up New Delhi, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'A lot of people are shying away from taking the vaccination.' 'It's high time we started a trust campaign for the vaccination so that those who are suspicious of the vaccine would realise it is completely safe.'
Inflation targeting has worked well and the government must stay with it, and the framework is going to work well in the period ahead also, former RBI Governor D Subbarao said on Thursday. He also said low inflation contributes to sustainable growth. Addressing the 'Times Network India Economic Conclave' virtually, Subbarao said the government's proposal to privatise some public sector units is not akin to selling family silver but it is a route for putting India on a sustainable growth path.
In his remarks to media before the commencement of Parliament's monsoon session, Modi noted, in an apparent reference to the ongoing border row with China in Ladakh, that Indian soldiers are bravely discharging their duties while standing guard in difficult hilly terrains with snowfall expected in the coming days and weeks.
If anybody targets doctors, nurses and all those rendering their service during this crisis, then it will cost them dearly, Modi said, adding people in white like doctors and nurses are like gods.
'The coronavirus epidemic highlights the need to start thinking more actively about multilateral coordination, including, but not confined to, health emergencies and climate uncertainties,' says Rathin Roy.
'India was fortunate to have a late entry into the pandemic; even the first wave entered India 2-3 months after many other countries experienced it.' 'Similarly, the second wave reached here after other countries went through it.' 'Despite having seen what other countries faced, we didn't ramp up our infrastructure sufficiently enough.' 'We remained highly under prepared.'
Talking about the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Agarwal said, "If the Tablighi Jamaat incident had not taken place and we compare the rate of doubling -- that is in how many days the cases have doubled, we will see that currently it is 4.1 days (including Jamaat cases) and if the incident had not taken place and additional cases had not come then the doubling rate would have been 7.4 days."
The government said there was no immediate plan to extend the 21-day lockdown period, which entered its sixth day on Monday, while the Indian Army dismissed as "fake" social media posts about a possible emergency declaration next month.
Deb cancelled the mandate event he had fixed on December 13 following intervention of BJP president J P Nadda, state observer Vinod Sonkar and the state ministers and BJP legislators reposing faith in him.
The advisory comes after a spurt in coronavirus cases following a Tablighi Jamaat meet at the group's headquarters in Nizamuddin in New Delhi, and instances of people, especially on social media, blaming the Muslim community for the spread of the disease.
Locked inside the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru due to the coronavirus forced restrictions, Indian Hockey players are utilising their free time to hone their English language skills, reading books and watching their favourite movies. The Indian men and women hockey teams are practicing at SAI centre Bengaluru where no unauthorised person can enter the campus.
How China's all powerful Communist party bungled the response to the coronavirus crisis.
'The current economic contraction is certainly due to the lockdowns as a response to the pandemic, which is an act of God.' 'Nobody has seen such a thing in the last 100 years.' 'Saying that this was an act of mismanagement is largely incorrect'