-The Hindu Business Line Encouraging farmers to hedge through futures and increased use of WDRA warehouses are among key options With the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19, mandis where farmers sell their harvest have also been closed. Across the country, the harvest of several crops including wheat, mustard, chana and coriander has started and farmers are sitting on truckloads of grains and pulses. In the kharif season, many farmers lost...

-The Hindu Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs. 1.70 lakh crore package which is likely to benefit 80 crore people. In her second media conference in a week, Ms. Sitharaman announced a slew of welfare decisions as the nation is under lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the highlights from her speech: * The Finance Minister announced ₹1.70 lakh crore package Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana, targetting 80 crore people. *...

-The Hindu The 21-day lockdown has suddenly left several thousand workers in the informal sector without jobs and any means of sustenance. It is around 3 p.m. Carrying luggage on their backs and wearing black masks, seven men, visibly fatigued, are signalled to stop by a policeman who hurriedly jumps out of his vehicle at Rajiv Chowk on the Delhi-Gurugram highway. The officer makes a few inquiries before letting them off, asking...

-Hindustan Times To prevent distress, the State must manage the movement of people, food, money, schemes India is now in a lockdown. Whether this lockdown saves us from the dangers of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) or not is a question that will be answered in the future. But there is absolutely no doubt that the economy is suffering, and will continue to suffer enormously, putting millions of Indians in serious danger. The...

-The Hindu There is scientific basis and epidemiological significance for the 21-day lockdown period announced by PM Modi. Is there any public health/epidemiological significance to the 21-day lockdown period announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? It seems that rich scientific data has fed this decision to announce a 21-day lockdown period. In fact, 21-day quarantines have been discussed elaborately in the context of Ebola and the calculations are based on the estimated incubation...