-The Indian Express India’s response has been comprehensive and robust. Right from the onset, the government has taken things very seriously, as reflected in the high-level of political commitment, including by the Prime Minister himself, says Dr Henk Bekedam. While India is yet to adopt the World Health Organisation’s prescription of “test test test” against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO’s representative in India, tells The Indian Express that...

-The Hindu Kerala’s rationale for revising its COVID-19 testing guidelines could prove counterproductive Even as the World Health Organization has been urging countries that have reported many laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases to become more aggressive in testing, India continues to have among the lowest testing rates in the world. In India, only those people with a travel history to high-risk COVID-19 affected countries or with close contacts to laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases and...

-The Indian Express ICMR on coronavirus testing: India has conducted roughly 6,000 tests so far, lower than the US (8,000), Japan (9,600), France (12,000), the UK (13,000), and Italy (23,000). South Korea has conducted as many as 2 lakh, which experts see as the reason for their significantly declining numbers. As each country debates own testing strategy to combat Covid-19, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has decided to monitor community...

-PTI New Delhi: Use of soil health card has helped farmers substantially reduce the cost of production and achieve higher production, thereby increasing farm income up to ?30,000 per acre, depending on the crop, according to a government study. The study, conducted by the National Productivity Council (NPC) in 76 districts of 19 States, covering 170 soil testing labs and 1,700 farmers, has been released on the completion of five years of...

-The Hindu Business Line Commission agents, who procure paddy, pay less than the MSP. There is no moisture testing or correct weighment. Is there a nexus all round? It is widely perceived that MSP operations in Haryana are quite effective and farmers there are a happy lot. But the reality is quite different. In the last paddy season, many farmers in Karnal’s Taraori, the largest grain mandi in Haryana, got only Rs.1,750/quintal...