Modi government's health ministry is good at making new claims but there is no visible sign of any new programme being initiated, finds out Manoj K.
UN economists announced a likely USD 50 billion drop in the worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone as the extent of the damage to the global economy caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) moved further into focus. Citing the China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), Pamela Coke-Hamilton, who heads UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities, said that it had fallen to 37.5 -- a drop of about 20 points -- the lowest reading since 2004. "This also correlates directly to exports and also implies a two per cent drop in overall exports," she said, with a resulting "ripple effect" worldwide "to the tune of a USD 50 billion fall in exports."
In his remarks in New Delhi at an all-party meeting held virtually, Modi said healthcare workers involved in treating COVID-19 patients, frontline workers, who include police personnel and municipal staff, and old people suffering from serious conditions would be inoculated on priority.
Of the seven surveys presented under Modi govt, predictions of three were quite close to the actual GDP growth rate, one saw the base year change in between, but the last three were way off the mark.
In conversation with Walmart India president and CEO Krish Iyer.
India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the United States company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.
'If you don't have a strong political leadership, however much expertise a country may have, in pandemic preparedness or infectious disease, will not matter.' 'It's really about having strong political leadership, that is proactive, that prioritises taking the right action.' 'And if you don't have that, then you will have a much worse pandemic experience.'
The CAG observed there was no change in the price of 'flyaway aircraft package'.
As the Kerala government looks for the best technologies to rebuild infrastructure, start-ups see a bigger role for themselves.
Fractional ownership is a great idea for those who want travel with flexibility and access to a jet of their own.
While the government has claimed significant increase in funds for farm credit, PMKSY and PKVY, facts show a different story.
"Now is the time for countries with room in their budgets to deploy -- or get ready to deploy -- fiscal firepower. In fact, low interest rates may give some policymakers additional money to spend," new IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
Though this time India's first astronaut remained earth bound, P Rajendran/Rediff.com finds out more about his journey off the beaten track along America's East Coast.
Agri-enterprises are finding it hard to expand due to lack of commercial guidance.
Currently, 23 power units with a cumulative capacity of 30,000 MW have super critical coal stock situation A lack of synchronised approach between the concerned ministries and power plants, has led to this crisis, says Shreya Jai.
'We can't have the best of both worlds -- large, efficient, world class government-owned banks, doing social banking and making profits. 'Why not set them free from the shackles of such obligations and run them as business units?' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'One way of doing this could be offering credit guarantee to the banks, say 10 per cent, for fresh loans given to micro, small and medium enterprises,' observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Singapore is the most favoured destination for people living in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines when it comes to post-lockdown travel.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of an Indo-Pak bilateral series stating that no such series is scheduled in Futures Tours & Programme (FTP) calender. "In the FTP, we had a series planned in 2015 but there is no series planned in 2016 against Pakistan. India will be playing against them in Asia Cup and the World T20 since they are multinational tournaments. And India has been playing them for many years," Thakur told the media.
Over 5 million alumni from the Indian Institutes of Technology, Mumbai University and Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, plan to raise Rs 21,000 crore to start the world's largest infection testing lab in Mumbai.
Calling for availability of all necessary equipment for medical professionals, she said the onus lies on the government to ensure that the spread of infection and casualties are not caused owing to lack of infrastructure or preparedness.
The Congress will only be able to gain from the bill if its benefits percolate down to the people within the next eight months, says Anita Katyal
The 21-year-old stuttered on the penultimate barrier but surged down the home stretch to power across the line and beat her previous record of 51.90 set at the U.S. trials in June.
At least 30,000 growers are hedging for their produce through farmer producer organisations
Pawan Ruia has finally done it, a beaming Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then West Bengal chief minister, had said at the reopening of the 70-year-old Sahagunj factory owned by Dunlop in 2005. But with the Calcutta high court passing a winding-up order in 2013 and the Trinamool Congress-led state government passing a Bill to take over the company in 2016, the once-upon-a-time undisputed leader in the Indian tyre industry looks vastly undone. But that can hardly be a deterrent for Ruia, who has a penchant for making headlines one way or the other.
Iivo Niskanen put on a brilliant display of cross-country skiing to win gold for Finland at the Beijing Games
Vardhan's elevation to the chairmanship of the 34-member World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board comes amid growing calls, including by United States President Donald Trump, to investigate how coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city and subsequent action by Beijing.
'What matters is meeting the needs and expectations of the people who have voted to provide governance for the country.'
'The government has to stop trying to fix things for lenders, projects, homeowners and developers and think instead about how to fix the market for houses,' says Mihir S Sharma.
He said the country has witnessed a journey from indecisiveness to clarity and decisiveness.
The deal was signed between Embraer and the DRDO for three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for airborne early warning and control systems.
The social media giant promised that news and views will be checked for veracity and pejorative content will be weeded out.
The Uttar Pradesh unit of Shiv Sena on Friday threatened to disrupt the scheduled concert of Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali on December 3 during the Lucknow Mahotsav.
'I would urge my Indian friends to look at how significant the overall support was.'
Find out if your favourite business school features in the list.
'Trump's new discovery is that Pakistan and its army are virtually god's gift to mankind.' 'They are required to facilitate a relatively orderly American exit from Afghanistan,' points out Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
India is home to the highest number of hungry people in the world.
Trump aides, who participated in the two-day talks held at the US President's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, described the meetings as productive and said the two leaders exhibited "positive" chemistry.
Olympic 100 metres hurdles champion Brianna Rollins was handed a one-year suspension for failing to properly file whereabouts information for out-of-competition testing, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday.
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