TEAM INDIA AND WINNING THE PANDEMIC BATTLE
Self-reliance is the way India has to chart its own strategy, whether it is in planning a staged release from the lockdown or in developing domestic capacity for medical equipment. There will be a need for scientific and economic cooperation with the rest of the world, but self-reliance is the rudder that must steer our […]
LIMITING TRANSMISSION IN HOTSPOTS WITH WIDER TRACING AND TESTING STRATEGY
Why in news? Even after the Health Ministry on March 28 acknowledged on its website that there was “limited community transmission”, India’s national taskforce for COVID-19 continues to deny it. Now, a paper in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, by ICMR and Health Ministry researchers, provides evidence of community transmission in 36 districts in […]
DONALD TRUMP THREATENS TO STOP MONEY TO WHO
Why in news? On 7th April, President Donald Trump threatened to freeze US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), saying the international group had “missed the call” on the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s views Trump said the body had “called it wrong” on COVID-19 and that it was very “Chinacentric” in its approach. He suggested that […]
WILL COVID-19 AFFECT THE COURSE OF GLOBALISATION?
With several countries and regions locked down, will there be a redrawing of geographical boundaries? Much of what we saw in terms of global integration of trade and finance would suffer in the short run. When the world was hit by economic recession in 2008, trade dipped by almost 10% in 2009 when there was […]
A KEY ARSENAL IN RURAL INDIA’S PANDEMIC FIGHT
Ground Realities in Villages- COVID-19 Lockdown With the influx of thousands of migrant labourers into their villages, there is an imminent need to isolate them for at least 14 days. Unfortunately, the houses here, which are often one or two-room dwellings, with an average seven family members to accommodate, are some of the worst places […]
NEEDED, GREATER DECENTRALISATION OF POWER
Why in news? Over the course of the last few weeks, as we have found ourselves in the throes of a pandemic, one of the striking features of governance has been the signal role played by State Chief Ministers across India. What did the Governments do? Even before the Union government invoked the Disaster Management […]
CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN: FACTORS COUNTRIES SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN LIFTING RESTRICTIONS
Why in news? As China seems to have “flattened the curve” of its coronavirus cases and is no longer the country with the highest number of infected people or with the highest death toll, all eyes are going to be on it in the coming weeks, as restrictions are slowly lifted on residents after over […]
THE SPECTRE OF A POST-COVID-19 WORLD
Why in news? As COVID-19 spreads exponentially across the world, and the figures of those testing positive as also the numbers of deaths keep increasing in near-geometrical progression, profound uncertainty and extreme volatility are wreaking havoc of a kind seldom encountered previously. It might, hence, be wise to start thinking of what next, if at […]
ANALYSIS| HOW PANDEMICS HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD
Introduction to influence of Pandemics in history Pandemics have had great influence in shaping human society and politics throughout history. From the Justinian Plague of sixth century to the Spanish flu of last century, pandemics have triggered the collapse of empires, weakened pre-eminent powers and institutions, created social upheaval and brought down wars. Justinian Plague […]
170 DISTRICTS IDENTIFIED AS HOTSPOTS: HEALTH MINISTRY
Why in news? Nearly one in five districts in India is a hotspot, the Health Ministry said on 15th April 2020, a day that saw at least 1,036 COVID-19 infections. The government said it had classified every district into a hotspot, potential hotspot or a green zone. Of India’s 736 districts, 170 were ‘hotspots’, defined […]