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Govts may not be able to isolate the true toll of the Covid-19 pandemic

Globally, experts are looking at “excess mortality” or mortality gaps as another measure of the coronavirus death toll. This approach compares the number of deaths during a certain period to the historical average.




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India’s lightbulb moment: Not using this crisis for meaningful energy sector reform would be a waste

The trend of low power demand, now furthered in the post-Covid economy, and increased RE generation, will continue to put a ceiling on the PLF of the thermal fleet.




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COVID-19’s costly trade-off: Unless lives are preserved, livelihoods become redundant

Coronavirus is ensuring the trade-off, especially for developing economies is significant, notwithstanding efforts to strike a balance




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COVID-19 crisis and the art of giving

A case could be made out for including chief ministers' relief funds in the list of entities eligible for corporate CSR funding




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Coronavirus crisis: India simply can’t afford another lockdown extension

Even supporting the poor—whose numbers will double—can cost Rs 65,000-130,000 crore per month




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Fighting Covid: Need to expand Aarogya Setu to make it better

It must include those quarantined as well instead of just the infected; wider testing critical if the app has to work.




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Covid crisis: Govt orders like no pay and job cut can severely dent business confidence

Government orders on waiver of rents impinge on contractual rights.




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Covid fallout: 265 million people likely to face acute food insecurity

Corona will worsen world hunger, while malnutrition facilitates increased vulnerability to the pandemic.




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Dressing Covid numbers: Bengal’s handling of the Covid outbreak raises many questions

Bengal’s handling of the Covid outbreak raises many questions.




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Covid-19: Time to think of key tax reforms — Few suggestions

The Covid 19 crisis is an opportunity to redefine tax policy and law. A calibrated approach to balance welfare economics with a vision to pioneer economic activity and national growth is needed.




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What govts need to learn from Covid-19 crisis

Today, when the US, China, UK, France, etc, which spend much more on healthcare than other nations are facing a crisis, one can very well understand how bad the situation could have been if the outbreak was in the third world, where a majority of global poor live with very little or no access to public health care. The situation would have been much worse.




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Covid crisis: India at the cliff edge of a rating downgrade

India’s Achilles heel on ratings is its parlous state of fiscal affairs and the risk of a sharp deterioration of government debt to potentially ~75-80% of GDP.




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Walk in the park: Golf courses around the world are under pressure to open up as parks for the general public

Nearly 7,000 people have signed a change.org petition to open up courses in the UK as parks during the pandemic.




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Need to renew industrial growth: Modi 1.0 launched Make in India, now is the chance for renewal

The need is for a temporary unemployment benefit scheme for up to 100 days a year similar to the MNREGS so that urban workers do not suffer during short periods of unemployment.




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Governments need to incorporate battling strategies for diseases like COVID-19 in their national security plans

In India, which is the biggest democracy in the world with over 1.3 billion people, the question of public health has never been debated in public.




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Without due process: Government orders on waiver of rents impinge on contractual rights

By Abhinav Mukerji Recently, there have been a spate of news reports on measures issued through executive orders directing waiver of rents, reduction or freezing of school fees, continuation of employment, restriction on termination of employees, and restriction on reduction in salary in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has also issued executive […]




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Building a resilient India: COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to redefine tax policy and law

The Covid 19 crisis is an opportunity to redefine tax policy and law. A calibrated approach to balance welfare economics with a vision to pioneer economic activity and national growth is needed.




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Virtually Real: Gaming has been serious business for some time, but Fortnite’s experiment shows the success of metaverse

Gaming has been serious business for some time, but Fortnite’s experiment shows the success of metaverse.




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China’s foray into digital currency could spark wider acceptance for crypto

While this makes China the first country formalising digital currency—Bitcoin alternatives have existed for long now—it also sounds the bugle for other central banks to join the race.




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Covid crisis: States must be assigned their rightful role

The basic decision making on the ground must be left to the states and should involve municipal corporations and wards.




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Private hospitals have a point in not admitting patients without testing for Covid-19

Lack of PPE & shortage of testing kits is a real issue.




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Covid-19: Centre needs to refine the graded action plan if it is to work

Containment zones must be marked ‘red’, not the entire district; also, will activity be curtailed if areas turn ‘red’?




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What India should do to bolster confidence of investors in post Covid world

India’s share of world manufacturing output is just 3%; it can easily be raised to 6% in 3-4 years, and 15% by 2030




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Covid-19 pandemic: Growth lessons for states from Gujarat, Karnataka

The pandemic and its economic consequences have given every state economy the unprecedented opportunity to take bold decisions and accelerate decadal growth.




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COVID-19 lockdown: Stricter action required against violators of social distancing norms

Liquor-store crowds show the masses still don’t understand the importance of social distancing in fighting Covid-19




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Gathering Coronavirus data from states: More central monitoring teams is a good idea

Even now, a state like West Bengal’s data looks dodgy; others like Gujarat and UP also pose challenges




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Fruit for thought! Lockdown has forced farmers into shock sales — and debt

Everyone in the banana supply chain seems to be gaining from the lockdown, except growers.




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Niti Aayog CEO bats for ‘flexi-work’ in post-Covid world

Building infrastructure to enable remote working will boost economy.




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Rationing Reforms: Ration card portability good, but DBT better

With wage-flow stoppered, and unable to get ration in the cities, most migrant workers have had to rely on food distribution by government and NGOs.




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Do a big retail bond issue to part-fund COVID-plan

Banks don’t want to lend, so if `2-3 lakh crore of deposits flow to a 5% govt bond, a Covid-plan can be part-financed.




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Promise of equity: How DBT scheme will help BPL for day-to-day sustenance all through the year

It is high time to scale up the fiscal relief measures, with a special emphasis on “Basic Income”.




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Giving migrant workers a better deal: Centre, states must ensure migrant workers are not left in the lurch

Centre and states must work together to ensure migrant workers are not left in the lurch during crises. Social security infrastructure must be strengthened and registration processes made more accessible for them.




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App Adoption: Govt needs to incorporate more features to drive Aarogya Setu adoption

According to an Indian Express report, on May 3, the Gautam Budh Nagar Police issued an order that all residents of Noida or Greater Noida, and anyone entering the city will need to download the Aarogya Setu app.




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Relax FRBM target for states to fight COVID-19

States should be allowed to issue ‘pandemic relief’ bonds, with the central bank being allowed to buy these bonds by printing money and monetising their debt.




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Bitter medicine: COVID-19 has exposed pitfalls of Indian pharma’s over-dependence on Chinese API

The Katoch committee, in 2015, had proposed several measures like setting up parks for API, providing capex, and subsidised loans to boost domestic production of APIs.




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‘India well placed to deal with Fed, global central bank actions’

India is better placed to manage uncertainty arising from different monetary policy...




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Realme Narzo 10 officially confirmed to pack Helio G80 SoC

The Realme Narzo 10 is arriving on May 11 and ahead of the launch, Realme confirmed that Narzo 10 will be powered by the Helio G80 SoC. Realme hasn't revealed the full specs sheet of the Narzo 10 yet, but the company previously confirmed that Narzo 10 will come with a 48MP quad camera, 6.5" waterdrop notch display, rear-mounted fingerprint reader and a 5,000 mAh battery. The Realme Narzo 10 is rumored to be a rebranded Realme 6i, and if that's true, you'll get an HD+ screen, 16MP front-facing camera, and a 48MP main camera on the back joined by an 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro and 2MP...




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Massive 6,000 mAh Realme battery gets certified

After successfully topping our all-time battery life chart, with the 5,000 mAh pack inside the Realme 6i, which you can read more about here, the Chinese company apparently has its sight set even higher. A TUV certification filing for a particular BLP793 battery pack has now been brought to light. Mainly since its rated capacity is a whopping 6,000 mAh. Well, 5,860mAh, to be precise, with a typical capacity of 6,000 mAh. But, the point stands. Battery certification The jury is now out on which phone we can expect to see this pack in. That's more guess-work than anything else,...




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Flashback: Nokia's Touch and Type blurred the lines between smart and feature phones

The division between smartphones and feature phones has often been murky. In the past, it used to be about how well the device ran user-installed apps and games, these days it's mostly touch screen vs. keypad. But there always were devices that straddled the line between those two categories. Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type official photos Before Nokia released the no-quite-smartphone Asha phones, there were the two Touch and Type models. As we said, these phones tried to have it both ways. The Nokia X3-02 and C3-01 both came out in late 2010. What made them special was that...




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Scientists to PM Modi: More than 30 COVID-19 vaccines in different development stages in India

With more than 49,000 positive Coronavirus cases in India, rolling out a vaccine has become a key focus for Indian scientists and researchers.




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Coronavirus vaccine: Italy gains significant ground in vaccine development for Covid-19 pandemic

The scientists tested their vaccine on mice. The mice developed antibodies immediately after a single injection, which prevented the virus from infecting human cells. Researchers selected 2 of the five candidates for the vaccine after studying them with the best results.




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Coronavirus COVID 19 vaccine: France-based drugmaker Sanofi to start large scale human trials

Coronavirus COVID 19 vaccine news, latest update, human trials: Sanofi's Pasteur division has an established track record in influenza vaccines. Last month it had teamed with its British rival GSK to produce a vaccine candidate hoping that it will be ready in 2021.




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COVID-19: After impressive fight against coronavirus, Kerala steps up guard against ‘invisible enemy’

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has time and again sought to drive home the point that complacency cannot be afforded despite a seemingly better show.




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COVID-19: Hyderabad CCMB set to develop SARS-CoV-2 for in-vitro research in human cells

In another release, the ministry said the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and Tata Sons have signed a licensing agreement for a paper strip-based test called Feluda for Covid 19's rapid diagnosis.




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Coronavirus pandemic: Taiwan makes new push for inclusion in World Health Assembly

Chen Shih-chung told international media at a news conference that global health officials "have not been honest and failed in their responsibilities," in an apparent reference to the UN World Health Organization that oversees the assembly.




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COVID-19 infects 548 doctors, nurses, paramedics across India

According to an official source, it has not been ascertained from where these doctors, nurses and paramedic staff have acquired the infection.




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COVID-19: Scientists identify new dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2, say it could be more contagious

The study said that the increase in frequency of this strain is happening at an alarming rate, which indicates that this strain has an advantage over the original strain from Wuhan in terms of fitness.




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One on One: Kym Frank on the OOH Eco-System

Kym Frank of Geopath on how data helps track and serve the audience for OOH




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The Rising Value of Podcasts To Digital Marketing

Podcasts are looking like an increasingly viable channel to engage with customers




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One on One: Jeff Smith and a World Without Channels

Jeff Smith of LiveRamp explains the connection between customer identity and going beyond omnichannel marketing