-NDTV In a separate letter to Kerala, the home ministry has strongly objected to its move to restart restaurants, book shops and barber shops in parts of the state from today. New Delhi: The government has made it clear that states and union territories cannot "dilute" its guidelines on the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus and said states cannot allow their own activities during this period; they can be...

-NDTV It is difficult to detect asymptomatic cases and they can be found out only after tracing the contacts of people who have beentested positive, the top scientist said, adding that testing everyone is almost impossible. New Delhi: 80 per cent of people with coronavirus in India are asymptomatic, or do not show symptoms of the infection, and this is matter of worry, a senior scientist at the country's top medical research...

-Down to Earth Current industrial agriculture models drive habitat loss, create conditions for viruses to emerge and spread The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed a crisis in the global food system, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) — a panel of developmental economists, agronomists, nutritionists and sociologists from 18 countries — said in April 2020. The vulnerability of food systems to climate and disease-related disruptions was clear long...

-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,...

-The Hindu Circulars were sent to all departments. Employees from a number of government departments and agencies have donated a day’s salary toward the PM-CARES fund. While the donations, meant for COVID-19 relief, were said to be “voluntary”, government circulars show that the deductions were made directly from salaries. Those unwilling to donate were asked to submit their refusal in writing. Please click here to read more. ...