-Hindustan Times Paharganj, once a bustling, thriving market whose entire economy depends on foreign tourists, is a microcosm of the devastation caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the capital’s tourism sector. Satyam Bhatnagar runs a handicrafts shop in Paharganj’s main bazar, a backpackers’ paradise that boasts of hundreds of touristy establishments such as money changers, hotels, rooftop restaurants, tour operators, and handicrafts shops selling a range of stone and wood sculptures,...

-The Hindu The current crisis has provided us with an opportunity to rethink our health, economic and climate policies In the new set of relief measures announced by the Finance Minister, job creation has moved to the forefront. This shows that the government has finally accepted that the unemployment rates are very high, a fact it has so far been suppressing or dismissing. This is a welcome change given its usual ostrich-like...

-Down to Earth Shaibal Gupta, social scientist at Asian Development Research Institute, spoke to DTE on Bihar polls and its national importance It is D-day after the first election in India amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The process of counting the votes cast in the Bihar Assembly elections started November 10, 2020 morning. But an increased number of electronic voting machines have slowed the process down and only about a...

-The Indian Express Government’s response to migrants’ plight, economic crisis, has been to unilaterally bring changes in labour laws. But industrial prosperity cannot be built on a race to the bottom for workers. Only weeks ago, India, and the entire world, witnessed the spectacle of the country’s employment precarity pour out on its roads and highways — men, women and children, in distress of having lost jobs, income and shelter, with no...

-Vikalp.ind.in The sharp contraction of India’s GDP in 20-21 Q1 (April-June) of 23.9 per cent according to the quarterly estimates released by the National Statistical Organisation is a summary measure that need to be deconstructed to capture the ailing state of the Indian economy. The three sectors that suffered bigger contraction are respectively construction (-50.3%), trade hotels and restaurants (-47%) and manufacturing (-39.3%). Notably these are also the sectors that provided...