-The Indian Express The current scenario is ideal for policymakers and practitioners to drive home the importance of health spending and institutional development With the first batch of anti-COVID vaccines being rolled out, the mood of the nation seems to be upbeat as it bids farewell to the pain and anguish of last year. The emergency-use approval to the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the Swedish-British Pharma major AstraZeneca, manufactured in...

-The Hindu Without regulation, the situation could spiral out of control Recently, a professor at a business school allegedly misused his faculty position to provide fake certificates to students whom he had compelled to attend an online course that he taught. He essentially took advantage of India’s rising pre-pandemic gig economy in education. When authorities at the institution discovered the racket, they suspended him. This is a cautionary tale for the global...

-The Indian Express Simultaneously, it has started a review of all model concession agreements — the legal contract that forms the basis of the public-private partnership — across four key infrastructure sectors: airports, ports, electricity and railways. AMID the unprecedented concentration of power in at least seven core sectors in corporate India, from Pharma and telecom to airports and ports, the Competition Commission of India has launched a set of detailed investigations...

-Down to Earth The latest figures suggest that Manipur spends more OOPE in both rural and urban areas, whereas Gujarat spends less among states and Dadra and Nagar Haveli among Union territories There has been a substantial increase in out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) in various states and Union territories of India despite various maternal schemes having been implemented by the Union and state governments, according to the National Family Health Survey-5. Dependency...

-The Hindu In Delhi, two evening markets were ordered to be shut for violating COVID-19 norms. A large percentage of the world’s population is gripped by vaccine hesitancy, experts believe as a coronavirus vaccine appears more likely in the next couple of months. Vaccine hesitancy, which is defined as reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite availability of vaccines, is feared to grip up to 40 to 50% of the world’s population, according to...