-The Telegraph Under-estimation of cases, inadequate number of ICU beds, old test kits add to challenge India could soon face its moment of reckoning with the Covid-19 pandemic and the question is whether the country, with its rickety, under-resourced healthcare system, will be able to cope. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India hit 151 Wednesday and, so far, there have been three deaths. On the surface, those numbers look extraordinarily...

-The Indian Express All comparisons between COVID-19 and TB end with the superficial observation that they are both deadly respiratory tract infections. The world has been spooked by COVID-19, the novel flu-like virus which emerged from the slaughter-houses of China and is now sweeping across the planet, propelled by the very engine of the global economy that it now threatens to pull asunder. Thanks to the waves of news engulfing us, including...

-TheNewsMinute.com As COVID-19 cases rise to 75 across the country, state governments are suspending the various touch points that could be a potential source of infection. The Kerala government’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department has decided to suspend biometric authentication for the public distribution system (PDS), popularly known as fair price or ration shops, in all districts till March 31. The number of people confirmed to have the COVID-19 disease...

-Hindustan Times The department officials said the idea of storing wheat on the premises of rice mills could not materialise because they already have an excess paddy stock. Chandigarhh: In the wake of a stalemate with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) over finalisation of storage rates for covered area plinths (storage in open), the Punjab food and civil supplies department has decided to store wheat produce in the state’s grain markets...

-Business Standard/ Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) It is logical to believe that employment conditions in India have deteriorated quite substantially during 2019-20. Economic growth has slowed down and investments show no sign of picking up. Outlook for the economy in 2020-21, and therefore also for employment, is also getting increasingly difficult by the day. With capacity utilisation remaining very low at around 70 per cent, the prospects of an...