Keyword : Pandemic

Fighting Covid-19: How Odisha continues to set precedents

Less than a year ago, Odisha, one of the poorest states in India, had shown the world how preparedness and efficient management could minimize human casualties. Before the category 4, severe tropic

Fitch changes India’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’

The rating agency Fitch Ratings on Thursday revised the Outlook on India’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable’ while aff

At the forefront of fight against Covid are feisty ASHA women

Manju Jeena, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) from Kandalei village of Khurda district, Odisha, has been working tirelessly to support COVID-19 related activities and ensure that her com

Honouring the Honest: PM launches platform for transparent taxation

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a platform for “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest” through video conferencing. Addressing trade and industry b

India’s reforms could support medium-term growth

The revival of the government’s reform agenda in response to the coronavirus pandemic shock has the potential to raise India’s medium-term growth rate, Fitch Ratings has said in a new a

India’s biggest walkathon-for-a-cause keeps its date – online this time

Oxfam Trailwalker, arguably India`s biggest walkathon-for-a-cause challenge, has gone virtual this year, with participants completing the 100 km walk within or around the confines of their home

‘2020 UN Population Award’ for HelpAge India

HelpAge India has become the first Indian non-profit to win the ‘2020 UN Population Award’ in the institutional category for raising awareness and devising solutions to the issues faced

Focus on core business: Jumboking founder Dheeraj Gupta

Dheeraj Gupta, founder of the home-grown vada pav brand Jumboking, says it is important to believe in your core business, remain focused and become business specialists rather than generalists.

Mumbai local trains open for public during non-peak hours

Maharashtra has extended its lockdown restrictions till 28 February and also announced the reopening of local trains for general public. Soon after his review meeting on resumption o

BEST services to upgrade with command and control centre

Mumbai’s dependable mode of transport for its large number of population, the BMC-run BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) bus service, is upgrading and going for a makeover.

Covid impact: weak revenue flow, high expenditure on essential relief

In the budget speech on Monday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman drew the attention of the Parliament on the fact that the pandemic’s impact on the economy has resulted in a weak revenue i

Corona pressed pause button, made us take stock: Thackeray

Following is the rendering in English of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s inaugural address during the webcast of ‘Colaba Conversation 2021: Creativity, Community and C

Effective Covid-19 response is success of whole nation: PM

India’s effective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic is not the success of an individual or a party but is the success of the nation and should be celebrated as such, prime minister Narendra M

“Homoeopathy permitted as add-on to standard care in COVID-19”

The supreme court has upheld the advisory of the AYUSH ministry in its judgement of December 1, 2020 and permitted use of homoeopathy medicine as add on to standard care in COVID-19 treatment, mini

PM suggests special visa for doctors, nurses; regional air ambulance agreement

The spirit of collaboration among nations in meeting the challenge of Covid-19 has been a valuable take-away from the pandemic, prime minister Narendra Modi said Thursday, as he suggested creating

As Covid cases rise, stringent restrictions are back in Mumbai

With the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases over the past few days in several districts of Maharashtra as well as in the city of Mumbai, stringent measures are making a comeback.

“New guidelines suppress digital, social media, and OTT platforms”

The government’s recent notification to regulate digital media is an attempt to suppress all social media platforms including digital news platforms, Dr. Shama Mohamed, Congress Spokesperson,

The year of living dangerously

India and the Pandemic: The First Year Essay from The India Forum Orient BlackSwan, 335 pages, Rs 695 It’s about time for the first ann

Oppn leaders pushing Mumbai to second lockdown: Mayor

Blaming the opposition leaders for flouting Covid-19 norms and leading to a resurgence of infection in Mumbai, Mayor Kishori Pednekar has said that they are setting bad examples and pushing the cit

Pandemic pushed 283 firms into insolvency process

As many as 283 firms were admitted into corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) between April and December last year, as the pandemic and lockdown came to hurt businesses. As

“UP situation extremely bad, govt hiding data”

India is battling the second wave of Covid-19 and infections are spreading into the interiors of the country, says Dr Anurag Bhadouria, National Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party. It is precipitated by

Panchayats should be on forefront of fight against Covid-19

The second wave of the pandemic is fast entering rural areas. About 40% of the total cases are being reported from rural areas and infected villagers living in the peripheral areas of cities are tu

How Gujarat has emerged as the top FDI destination

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, since March 2020 the economy of not only India but the entire world has weakened tremendously and a major factor is unemployment. The challenge before the nation is ho

“BMC to continue Mumbai Model in future”

To reduce the gap between citizens and authorities BMC will continue its ward war room approach which has now come to be known as the Mumbai Model for addressing health or disaster related issues t

‘Pandemic added to loneliness, isolation among elderly’

HelpAge India Report 2021, ‘The Silent Tormentor: Covid 19 & the Elderly’, assesses the impact and challenges of the pandemic on lives of elderly living in households (informal sett

Cinema and OTT will coexist: Madhur Bhandarkar

With technology evolving every day, it provides filmmakers ideas to get more creative and an edge to tell more stories. India currently has about 40 OTT platforms and the number is increasing by th

How a portal saved 2,000 lives by connecting patients with dialysis centres

As the city of Mumbai went into the lockdown in March 2020, those who were on permanent dialysis and caught Covid infection or suspected to have been infected were badly in need of dialysis treatme

Gujarat’s smart move with smart app for unorganized workers

The Government of Gujarat has launched a web portal and a mobile application to facilitate online registration of workers from the unorganized sector by giving them smart cards for availing various

India’s vaccination coverage crosses 30-crore landmark

In a milestone achievement, India’s cumulative vaccination coverage has exceeded 30 crores. A total of 30,16,26,028 vaccine doses have been administered through 40,45,516 sessions, as

Affordable housing in Mumbai: For whom and for how much?

An affordable home must be equal to (or more than) 300 sq ft carpet area. Today the lowest cost of MHADA tenement is Rs. 10,000/sq ft. Thus the MHADA cost of a 300 sq ft basic unit would cost Rs. 3

Covid stimulus package receives cabinet nod

On account of the disruptions caused by the second wave of Covid-19, especially on the healthcare sector, the union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Sector

Poor more poor, hungry and indebted after second wave: Study

Pitta Rajani, 28, and her family from Kandriga in Vijaywada faced severe difficulties during and after the lockdown last year and had to take a loan of Rs 20,000  from Soubhagya , a moneyl

Will next wave affect children? That`s mere speculation, says expert

Dr. Praveen Kumar, director, department of pediatrics, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, talks about various issues including impact of Covid-19 on children, the need to protect them, a

Maharashtra eases restrictions: All shops to remain open till 8 pm on weekdays

Starting Tuesday, Maharashtra has relaxed restrictions in 22 out of the 36 districts reporting low case positivity numbers of Covid-19. However, Level 3 restrictions will continue in

Maharashtra prevents 790 child marriages during pandemic

Maharashtra has been successful in preventing 790 child marriages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Building on that success, women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur has launched a state-

How PATH helps Maharashtra, Punjab ramp up Covid testing

India has come out of the devastating second wave, but to be prepared for any next wave, testing, along with Covid-appropriate behaviour (CAB), has to be the first line of defence. Given its vast p

“TV channels think they are deciders, prosecutors and judges”

Castigating media for cooking up false stories to push TRPs, top criminal lawyer Satish Maneshinde has said that TV channels try to manipulate and manufacture public opinion but once the story is o

Maharashtra starts online suburban railway pass distribution

After announcing further relaxations from August 15 onwards including offline e-pass facility for travel on suburban local trains for fully vaccinated citizens, the Maharashtra government has annou

Maharashtra eases pandemic restriction with further unlocking

Maharashtra has further eased unlock guidelines and allowed shopping malls to remain open till 10 PM every day under specified conditions and children are also permitted there with age proof since

“Covid-19 made the world realise the importance of alternative healthcare systems”

It’s a novel form of therapy, it’s based in Ayurveda but is a contemporary version of it. A former Navy officer has developed it, and has helped cure a large number of people. It&rs

No Dahi Handi celebrations on Janmashtami in Maharashtra for second year

With the pandemic, Maharashtra will have muted Dahi Handi celebrations – the main attraction of the Janmashtami festival in the state – for the second year in a row. In a meeting held w

How Zoom resolved govt concerns, became medium of choice for people

Iravati Damle, Director of Government Affairs of Zoom Video Communications, speaks to Praggya Guptaa of Governance Now on privacy, security, technology and policy – and how the US based u

WFH temporary phenomenon; realty to exponentially grow in long term: Hiranandani

While the pandemic has brought radical changes in the way people work and work-from-home (WFH) has become the standard protocol of following Covid-appropriate behaviour world over for almost 18 mon

Community must maintain caution during festive season: Dr N K Arora

With the annual festival season around the corner, Covid infections moving up in states like Kerala (reporting 70% of India’s new cases) and Maharashtra along with the lurking danger of a thi

India cannot have any diplomatic relations with Taliban: GVL Narasimha Rao

Amid the geopolitical uncertainty after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, India cannot have any kind of diplomatic relations with a militant regime, believes GVL Narasimha Rao, Member of

Covid-19 antibodies found in 86.64% Mumbai citizens

As many as 86.64% citizens of the city of Greater Mumbai have antibodies, according to the fifth sero-prevalence survey. Among the people who are fully or partially vaccinated, the antibodies were

V shape recovery an exaggeration: Gurcharan Das

The notion of a V-shape economic recovery is an exaggeration, and the informal economy and the poor have been terribly hurt during the Covid-19 period, says Gurcharan Das, author, commentator and p

The Manali Trance: Economics of Abandoning Caution in the Time of Coronavirus

The brutal second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India has left a significant death toll in its wake. Health experts advise that the imminent third wave can be delayed by following simple measure

How Indian health-tech has supported government efforts during pandemic

In 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic which got the entire world at a pause, the Indian healthcare sector was in progress at a steady but slow pace. The pandemic boosted the rate, and wi

Mumbai: Guidelines issued for school reopening from October 4

With the government announcing the reopening of schools 18 months after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Mumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has issued SOPs for resuming in-person schooling. From O

Goa first state to provide 100% vaccination: Pramod Sawant

Goa, after becoming the first state in the country to complete 100% vaccination in the first round, will complete all its second doze vaccinations starting October 30, chief minister Pramod Sawant

Finding strength to serve, come Covid or cyclone – the Swades way

Since 2013, in a holistic, 360-degree model of community development Swades Foundation has reached out to 2,700 hamlets and villages across Raigad and Nashik districts in Maharashtra. Applying

Covid norms relaxed; Mumbai restaurants, shops to remain open longer

After extending timings of shops and restaurants as well as the reopening of cinema halls and theatres under specified SOPs from October 22, in view of the festive cheer, the Maharashtra government

Remove unauthorized constructions without pressure: Thackeray to BMC

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has instructed the Mumbai civic authorities to take immediate action on unauthorized constructions on war footing. In a virtual meeting he

Many roles of civil society during pandemic

The union government enforced a nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020 to curb the spread of coronavirus as it was causing large-scale infection and disease. Challenges of pandemic management and le

Grossly improper for the minister to express opinion on sub-judice matter: KTS Tulsi

It is grossly improper for Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Mallik to express his opinion and court controversy in the ongoing investigation in the cruise drugs case involving Aryan Khan, son of

How many more waves must we face?

Fed up of being contained, our lives have become acutely more exciting than that of a lab rat, Covid has taken the centrefold in every socio-economic sense and the coronavirus is the only star we s

Urban-rural divide in healthcare infrastructure and planning for adaptability

Access to decent healthcare facilities is a basic right of every individual. But it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that for a majority of our country’s population – the 65% that r

Why 40%? Priyanka should reserve 100% for women: Anila Singh

BJP spokesperson Anila Singh has ridiculed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary of All India Congress Committee in charge of Uttar Pradesh, for promising 40% reservation for women and said that

Govt-pvt sector barriers came down during Covid-19: Dr. Trehan

With an unprecedented focus on healthcare infrastructure and coordination reigned in between the government and private sector during Covid-19, Dr. Naresh Trehan, chairman, and managing director, M

13 states told increase Covid-19 testing

In view of several countries reporting surges in Covid-19 cases and many developed nations facing fourth and fifth waves despite high numbers of vaccinations, the Ministry of Health and Family Welf

Mumbai on full alert against Omicron

After reports of Omicron, a new potentially contagious variant of coronavirus detected in South Africa, Belgium, Hong Kong, Britain and Israel, more European countries have reported cases, raising

Omicron forces Mumbai to delay school reopening

The looming threat of the new Covid strain B.1.1.529, known as Omicron, has pushed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to postpone the reopening of schools for classes 1-7 to December 15.

Omicron: Centre asks Maharashtra to follow uniform guidelines

With the threat of Omicron, the new variant of the coronavirus, looming large, the union health ministry has written to the Maharashtra government to align orders issued by the state with the minis

Omicron: Maharashtra revises travel guidelines

A day after the union health secretary wrote to it that its order on SOPs for air travellers was in divergence with guidelines issued by the MoHFW, GoI in view of the Omicron threat, the Maharashtr

Mumbai issues strict guidelines for home quarantine of all international passengers

In view of the emerging threat of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) Saturday issued strict guidelines for surveillance of all international travelle

Omicron will not cause economic derailment: Ameya Prabhu

Covid-19 came as a rude shock and hit the world with several disruptions, halting economies and destroying livelihoods. While research for the new variant, Omicron, thought to be less lethal than D

Pandemic hurt PwD disproportionately: Here’s what needs to be done

The pandemic affected various ethnic and social groups quite disproportionately. This becomes particularly important for a country like India, where many social groups are yet to be integrated with

Omicron alert: BMC issues guidelines for festive season

With the festival and wedding season in full swing and a gradual increase in the number of Omicron cases, the Mumbai civic authorities on Saturday came out with new guidelines and instructions to b

Judiciary encroaching on government space: Mahesh Jethmalani

The judiciary is encroaching on the government space and taking up matters of public policy which is the realm of the government, Mahesh Jethmalani, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member, has said

Omicron rising: Stringent orders in Mumbai for year-end celebrations

In view of the rising numbers of infections from the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the BrihanMumbai municipal Corporation on Tuesday issued strict orders to be followed for private and public g

“Mumbai must have real-time database on disease-prevalence”

Mumbai saw a 24% increase in the total registered deaths, from 91,223 in 2019 to 1,12,906 in 2020, of which 11,116 were Covid deaths. No data is available on the causes of non-Covid deaths since Ja

No New Year celebrations in Mumbai as Omicron threat rises

With Maharashtra reporting a total of 108 Omicron cases over the last few days and witnessing an upward trend of Covid-19 cases over the past week, as more than 1,000 positive cases were registered

Mumbai records highest single-day surge since the start of the pandemic

Mumbai on Wednesday reported 15,014 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day surge since the start of the pandemic exceeding 11,163 cases last registered in April last year. Mahar

Mumbai records 20,971 new Covid-19 cases

Mumbai on Friday reported 20,971 new Covid positive cases and 6 Covid deaths. Among new cases, 84% (17,616) are asymptomatic patients. 1,395 patients were hospitalized today, and 88 of them were pu

Night curfew in Maharashtra, only essential services allowed

With the third wave of the pandemic breaking previous records of infections, Omicron is the driving variant with the highest numbers of cases in the country. On Saturday, India saw a single-day ris

16,420 new Covid cases in Mumbai

Mumbai has reported 16,420 new Covid -19 cases, adding nearly 5,000 cases in a day. Out of the total cases reported, 13,793 (84%) are asymptomatic. There were seven deaths, all reported to have com

Omicron on relentless run: India records 2.68 lakh cases

India is once again caught in a spike of Covid-19 cases, with the highly transmittable omicron driving numbers. The total cases in the country continued to increase on Saturday, recording 2.68 lakh

How inequality keeps rising amid pandemic – and is killing people

The world’s ten richest men more than doubled their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion (at a rate of $15,000 per second or $1.3 billion a day) during the first two years of a pandemi

Aditya Thackeray launches 2 Oxygen cylinder recharge points

After the oxygen crisis faced during the second wave of Covid-19, the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has now set up its own medical oxygen cylinder recharge projects.  

Maharashtra schools to reopen on January 24

Maharashtra has announced the reopening of schools for classes 1-12 from January 24 with Covid protocols. Education minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Thursday that the government will

How should budget 2022 handle the water and sanitation sector?

Why sanitation in budget 2022-23 is important? The upcoming budget 2022-23 will be of significant value as India is in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic. The bud

Covid conundrum: Where exactly does all the government money go?

COUNTDOWN Can India Rebound from the Meltdown of the Century? By Anshuman Tiwari and Anindya Sengupta Bloomsbury, 268 pages, Rs. 799

Harnessing the Power of Circular Economy through Budget 2022-23

The Union Budget 2022-23 will be presented on February 1, amidst the third COVID-19 wave. After the two waves of the pandemic, the GDP for FY 21 contracted by 7.3% but following a V-shaped recovery

GDP to grow 8-8.5% next year: Economic Survey

The Indian economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 percent in real terms in 2021-22 (as per first advanced estimates) subsequent to a contraction of 7.3 percent in 2020-21. Next year, GDP is projected

Budget 22: RBI to introduce ‘Digital Rupee’

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday announced the introduction of Digital Rupee to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. Presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Parlia

Macro growth + micro focus = inclusive welfare

The Union Budget, tabled in Parliament by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, seeks to complement macro-economic level growth with a focus on micro-economic level all inclusive welfare.

Mumbai to set up 100 health centres

Mumbai, the Indian city most affected by Covid19, has allocated Rs 6,933.75 crore for healthcare – a 15.9% of its total budget for the 2022-23. The BrihanMubai Municipal Corpor

How e-Shram is a tool for financial inclusion of the unprivileged

August 2021 marked the beginning of the execution of various social securities for unorganised or underprivileged sectors of society with the launch of the e-Shram portal. It was created by the min

Budget 2022 and mental health: Good start, but a long way to go

The Union Budget 2022-23 was introduced on February 1, near the end of the third wave of COVID-19 –and two years since the beginning of the pandemic and the mania brought with it. The pandemi

World’s richest municipality gets richer: has Rs 92,000 crore FDs now

In a bonanza of sorts, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation fixed deposits have jumped from Rs 78,000 crore to over Rs 92,000 crore during in eight months. The 18% growth in the F

Fourth wave? "Nothing to worry if we follow strategies that worked”

BMC additional municipal commissioner (health), Suresh Kakani, has been at the heart of Covid management in Mumbai since the start of the pandemic, helming the health infrastructure and plannin

Pilots under financial stress: Is it affecting flight safety?

The coronavirus fear seems almost over now, and many state governments have withdrawn most of the pandemic-related restrictions. Lives for almost all seem to be back on track, airlines are back to

The Sri Lankan Crisis and Lessons for India

The Sri Lankan economy is undergoing a twin crisis: debt and foreign exchange crisis. The total current external debt for Sri Lanka stands at $45 billion. However, in February 2022, the country onl

Women in workforce: Despite policy support, why it is declining

Michelle Obama once said, “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.” That should be

Why is Lanka in flames: the making of a crisis

This time it was not Lord Hanuman, but the poor decision-making of the political leaders combined with several global economic factors that set Sri Lanka in flames. A state of emerg

BMC administrator Chahal empanelled to the rank of GoI secy

Decorated IAS officer and BMC commissioner-administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal has been empanelled to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. Chahal has been credited with con

BMC on stand-by as Covid cases surge in Mumbai

With a surge in Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, BMC commissioner-administrator IS Chahal has put his colleagues on alert.   Noting that daily new cases have tremendously increased in

As Covid numbers rise, Mumbai’s health infra on alert

With the sudden jump in Covid-19 cases in Mumbai over last week and the number of infected persons rising by 8% as well as the warning of a fourth wave sounded by medical experts, BMC has alerted a

What ails Indian healthcare? Experts diagnose, prescribe cure

Two years ago, little did we know that the pandemic will bring out the real state of the health infrastructure in the country. The entire healthcare infrastructure across the globe took a major hit

Hospitality industry and security environment

The hospitality industry is one of the areas which were hit worst due to the Corona pandemic. Even then, the operators as well as owners in this field deserve congratulations for successfully overc

Between the waves: Lessons of preparedness, togetherness and optimism

Stop Predicting, Revisit Life: Lessons from COVID-19 By Vinay Sharma, Rabindranath Bhattacharyya, Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan, and Himanshu Shekhar Mishra Bloomsb

‘In Mumbai, society, police forces triumphed over Covid-19’

Crediting the citizens of Mumbai for coming forward to help the police in combating the crisis situation due to Covid-19, Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey has said that Mumbai Police lost q

Why sanitation should matter to you

How many times a day do you flush the toilet? This number is probably between five and eight times for an average person. How many times a day do you spare a thought towards what happens to the hum

Empowering youth through digital and life skills awareness in rural India

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the entire digital landscape globally and compelled people, policy-makers and organizations to digitize their methods of reflections and operations. An analysi

India’s aviation sector yet to come out of air pockets after Covid

India is the third largest aviation market in the world, after the UK and China; and the country’s aviation sector is expected to grow tremendously over the next few years. Most of the major

As people resume travelling, Railways` passenger earnings up by 71%

As the ‘third wave’ of Covid-19 subsided and people resumed travelling after a long gap, the railways’s earnings have recorded a sharp uptick. The total approximate earnings in th

At 7.8% y-o-y, India’s growth rate towers above that of most leading economies

At 7.8% year on year, India’s growth rate towers above the growth rate in several other leading economies, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic adviser (CEA), ministry of finance, has sa

Gripping graphic narrative helps make sense of pandemics past

The Moral Contagion By Julia Hauser and Sarnath Banerjee HarperCollins, 140 pages, Rs 699

New study reveals comparative immunogenicity of 2 Covid vaccines

A study by a consortium of eleven institutes, led by scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, compares the immunogenicity of Covishield(™) and Covaxin&re

Soumya Swaminathan honoured with Yashwantrao Chavan award

Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of World Health Organisation (WHO), has said that more than pandemic, climate change is the concern to respect not only for our health but our very existe

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


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