-Newsclick.in In April alone, over 12 crore jobs were estimated to have been lost, and unemployment is at over 27% in the beginning of May. After the loss of nearly 80 lakh jobs in March, most of them in the last week after the countrywide lockdown was suddenly announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, latest data collected by CMIE or Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy through their periodic sample...

-The Indian Express Never before, since the outbreak began in the first week of March, has there been three straight days of decline in daily numbers. But there is little in it beyond this statistical coincidence, which was partly made possible by the decision of the Delhi government to reschedule its COVID bulletins and report only half-days figures on Saturday. For the third straight day on Saturday, the number of new cases...

-The Indian Express Locusts normally arrive during July-October, but have already been spotted in Rajasthan. At a time India is battling Covid, they present a new worry with their potential for exponential growth and crop destruction. On April 11-12, scientists at the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) observed groups of grasshoppers at Sri Ganganagar and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan. But far from ordinary hoppers, these were desert locusts — the same destructive migratory...

-The Indian Express Centre’s policy of monopolising decisions, socialising economic losses in the wake of Covid-19 has left migrant workers in the lurch The 40-day lockdown was further extended at a time of sporadic expressions of resistance and anger by migrant workers in a few cities. Extreme precarity doesn’t have a singular expression. While some are responding with anger, others are responding with resignation. The severe distress among migrant workers in India...

-The Hindu India slid into the pandemic crisis in the backdrop of economic downslide; fiscal stimulus has to be structured The impact of COVID-19 will be debilitating for the global as well as the Indian economies. Various institutions have assessed India’s growth prospects for 2020-21 ranging from 0.8% (Fitch) to 4.0% (Asian Development Bank). This wide range indicates the extent of uncertainty and tentative nature of these forecasts. The International Monetary Fund...