-Outlook India A comparison of deaths in April-May before and during the pandemic has raised doubts whether Madhya Pradesh government is undercounting Covid deaths After Bihar drastically revised its Covid death tally on Thursday and admitted huge difference in its earlier data, now reports have pointed at under-counting of fatalities in Madhya Pradesh. A comparison of deaths in April-May period before and during the pandemic has raised doubts whether Madhya Pradesh government is...
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Counting the dead: On measuring excess deaths
-The Hindu Measuring excess deaths is the best possible way to estimate the count of COVID-19 deaths The real time mortality impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is an important statistical measure to guide policy responses. But measuring the actual count is not an easy task. WHO, in January 2021, had estimated, based on excess deaths data in Europe and the American continents, that actual deaths were at least 1.6 times over the...
More »Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee calls for bigger government cash payments to Covid-hit poor -Paran Balakrishnan
-The Telegraph Poverty research pioneer cites US, UK and EU experience; Niti Aayog vice-chairman disagrees, says there’s no guarantee ‘helicopter money’ will lead to spending Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has stepped up to the firing line by arguing the government should make bigger direct cash payments under the MGNREGA scheme to help people who have slid into poverty due to the pandemic. The government has already indicated it’s not keen on larger direct...
More »It’s time to protect the poor and the migrants from rising edible oil prices
In his Mann ki Baat address to the nation on 30th May, 2021, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi appreciated the fact that the farmers received "more than the minimum support price (MSP) for mustard" pertaining to the rabi production. One can easily guess from this statement of the PM that the mustard growers in Haryana (and elsewhere) preferred to sell their produce to private traders in the open market instead...
More »South Asia’s healthcare burden -Syed Munir Khasru
-The Hindu Despite the debilitating pandemic, state investment in the health sector remains deeply inadequate. On May 18 this year, India recorded 4,529 deaths from COVID-19, the highest daily death toll recorded in the world after the United States in January saw 4,468 deaths. As India combats the pandemic, its neighbours are experiencing spillover from the menacing second wave. The virus has swept through Nepal, while Sri Lanka added as many as...
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