-The Indian Express Is the government postponing the use of the Rs 35,000-crore allocated for vaccine development in the current Budget? Has it been shy in using its good offices with the US to intercede on behalf of the country’s vaccine manufacturing companies? This time, last year, India was under a lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address during which he issued several messages of caution. He talked...

-The Indian Express Building Infrastructure and services, including pre-primary education, maternity, disability and sickness benefits, and long-term care, will help ensure that India’s post-COVID recovery is equitable and gender-inclusive. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “Infrastructure” as “the basic systems and services that are needed in order to support an economy.” Traditionally, Infrastructure has been understood and interpreted to mean physical, immovable assets, primarily in the energy, transport, telecommunications and water sectors. Over the last...

-The Hindu The court cites media reports of the COVID crisis in hospitals and lists matter for urgent hearing on Monday morning Ahmedabad: Citing media reports of shortage of beds, oxygen supply, testing facilities and medicines amid the pandemic and rising cases and deaths, the Gujarat High Court late on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the worsening COVID-19 situation and listed the matter for urgent hearing on Monday morning. Chief Justice Vikram...

-The Indian Express The spectre of lockdowns is looming large once more, and while there are bright spots, there are also risks and uncertainties to watch out for. As India’s economy embarks on a new financial year, a dark cloud is on the horizon: The second wave. Every day brings further reconfirmation that the second wave is no longer a Maharashtra-centric phenomenon. With the daily run-rate of cases surpassing the first-wave peak,...

-CaravanMagazine.in In the cover story of The Caravan’s March 2021 issue, “Mandi, Market and Modi,” Hartosh Singh Bal reported about the Indian government’s efforts to remake India’s agricultural economy for large private players. In the following excerpt from the story, Bal traces the Infrastructure that the Adani group have already built to store, transport and market agricultural produce. There has been considerable conversation around what the entry of private buyers in procurement...