-The Hindu Ministry concedes Q1 growth to be hit, bats for expanding vaccination pace. The second COVID-19 wave which is spreading fast beyond the worst-affected districts in the country, could dent economic activity till June this year, and expanding vaccination pace in the country is the “need of the hour”, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. The Ministry also indicated it is not in favour of a national lockdown to curb the pandemic,...

-The Hindu Business Line It’s only an open-ended deal with co-developer Bharat Biotech, says top source The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is willing to share the know-how to produce the indigenously-developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, with any company as the contract with co-developer Bharat Biotech is not close-ended. Currently, Bharat Biotech has the sole licence to manufacture Covaxin, which it developed in collaboration with scientists from ICMR’s Pune-based National Institute of Virology...

In the month of April this year, there has been an unprecedented upsurge in daily new cases and daily new deaths in the country due to Covid-19. States, which reported large increases in daily new cases and daily new deaths, are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, to name but a few.   Data accessed from https://www.covid19india.org/, which is a crowdsourced platform and an independent aggregator of daily Covid-19 figures and...

-The Hindu The decisions regarding journalist Siddique Kappan, the second COVID-19 wave and sedition law show a rejuvenation is happening within the court. A series of decisions within a week since Justice N.V. Ramana took over as the 48th Chief Justice of India shows a rejuvenation happening within the Supreme Court in its role as the guardian of rights of ordinary people. The court has not flinched while ordering a reluctant Uttar Pradesh...

-The Hindu A catastrophe has hit India and there is no sign that the ferocious second wave is being dealt with competently Earlier this week, a young woman in Uttar Pradesh tweeted a cry for help. Her grandmother’s oxygen level had fallen to 40. “Pls help us in getting one bed in hospital in Bareilly,” she wrote in desperation. Soon a handle that called itself “Team Hindu Unlimited” was on her: “Stop...