These days a lot many articles, reports, documents, etc. are appearing in the public domain on Coronavirus infection and related issues. An attempt has been made in the present news alert to put together in one place some of the best articles, reports, blogs, webinars, podcasts, etc., which can be useful for our readers. We have divided the resources under various themes for the convenience of our readers and social media...
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After COVID-19, India’s next challenge could be mega-sized locust attack this summer -Atul Aneja
-The Hindu It has the potential to cause a food security issue, say officials Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s response to natural disasters is expected to be tested again this summer when a giant locust storm from the Horn of Africa is expected to attack farmlands in South Asia. Official sources told The Hindu that the government was preparing for a “two-front war”— one, which was ongoing against the COVID-19 infections and another...
More »Only 10% free pulses under govt scheme distributed to poor so far -Harikishan Sharma
-The Indian Express According to sources, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), which comes under administrative control of the Agriculture Ministry, has been tasked with ensuring supply of pulses from the buffer stocks it maintains. Announced as part of the COVID-19 relief package about a month ago, free pulses — 1 kg per family — to beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are yet to reach...
More »Hans Timmer, World Bank's Chief Economist for South Asia, interviewed by Suhasini Haidar (The Hindu)
-The Hindu Disruptions in the supply chain and panic buying can lead to price spikes: Hans Timmer In a report released this month, the World Bank has predicted a ‘dire’ situation for South Asia due to the economic impact of measures to counter the novel coronavirus pandemic, suggesting that the eight SAARC countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka) will experience their worst economic performance in 40 years,...
More »‘More than 100mn excluded from PDS as govt uses outdated Census 2011 data’
-India Spend Team The public distribution system (PDS) is meant to play a key role in disbursing government support to the poorest Indians during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. However, the system leaves more than 100 million people excluded from its reach, as per academics Jean Drèze, Reetika Khera and Meghana Mungikar, because the central government uses 2011 population figures from the last census to calculate state-wise PDS coverage. Under the National Food...
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