-NDTV.com The centre in its affidavit also said due to increased health expenses and low tax revenue it is beyond states' budget to pay compensation for lakhs of Covid victims. New Delhi: Families of Covid victims cannot be paid compensation as it applies to natural disasters only, the government told the Supreme Court, adding that states cannot afford to pay ₹ 4 lakh to every victim. In a 183-page affidavit filed late...

-Newsclick.in As India faces a grim economic scenario due to the second wave of the pandemic in India, the government needs to step in to create employment opportunities. The second wave of COVID-19 beginning from February 2021 has not only severely impacted the economic recovery in India, but has also threatened a contraction in its GDP and consequently a sharp spike in unemployment. S&P’s moderate and severe severe downside scenario has estimated...

-The Hindu 12-member team to go beyond present crisis, prepare road map for transparent budgeting with States The Supreme Court has constituted a 12-member National Task Force to streamline and ensure the “effective and transparent” allocation of liquid medical oxygen on a “scientific, rational and equitable basis” to States and Union Territories fighting COVID-19. The apex court had expressed its dissatisfaction at the Centre’s earlier “oxygen-for-bed” formula. This “rough-and-ready” arrangement, as the court...

In the month of April this year, there has been an unprecedented upsurge in daily new cases and daily new deaths in the country due to Covid-19. States, which reported large increases in daily new cases and daily new deaths, are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, to name but a few.   Data accessed from https://www.covid19india.org/, which is a crowdsourced platform and an independent aggregator of daily Covid-19 figures and...

-NDTV The government is taxing people who buy Covid-related medical drugs like Remdesivir and others, as well as taxing the supplements and medical grade oxygen for oxygen cylinders, with a tax as high as 12 per cent. New Delhi: Indian and global medical experts are shocked at the Indian government making money off the sick and dying. Every expert consulted for this report said this has to stop. A family that buys an...