Tens of millions plunge into poverty in Modi-led India
Agencies
May 8, 2021
After dipping into his savings to weather India’s snap pandemic lockdown last March, Manoj Kumar was just getting his head above water again earning 600 rupees ($8) a day as a construction worker in the tourist hotspot of Goa. He’d squirreled away enough for a trip last month to his native village in Bihar some 1,490 miles away for a wedding. He’s still there, stuck in one of the nation’s least developed states, as a fierce second Covid-19 wave triggers the world’s worst health crisis and prevents his return.
April 27, 2021
A video of a professor calling her students “bloody bastards” has sparked outrage around how minorities are treated at India’s elite institutes.
In a video that went viral on social media on April 25, Seema Singh, a professor at the department of humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-KGP), can be seen and heard foul-mouthing students and berating them after she thought some of them had not stood up for the national anthem.
The video was first posted on the Facebook page IIT-KGP confessions.
The video was shot during Singh’s Prep English Course, which is meant for students from the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and persons with disabilities. The one-year preparatory class is aimed at helping students from these communities to secure a seat the following year if they make the cut-off but are unable to get direct admission.
The Indian economy’s recovery is likely to be ‘K-shaped’ instead of a ‘V,’ as rising inequality is poised to hit consumption and growth prospects, according to the country’s former central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao. “An important consequence of the pandemic has been the sharpening of inequalities,” he said in an interview Friday. “Growing inequalities are not just a moral issue. They can erode consumption and hurt our long-term growth prospects.” India’s gross domestic product is forecast to grow by as much as 12.5% in the current fiscal year ending March, which will make the economy the world’s fastest growing major one.
India To See K-Shaped Recovery As Demand Hit, Says Ex-RBI Head India To See K-Shaped Recovery As Demand Hit, Says Ex-RBI Head India s gross domestic product is forecast to grow by as much as 12.5% in the fiscal year that began April 1, which would make it the world s fastest growing major economy.
Updated: April 12, 2021 2:17 pm IST
The Indian economy s recovery is likely to be shaped like a K rather than a V, as rising inequality is poised to hit consumption and growth prospects, the country s former central bank governor said. An important consequence of the pandemic has been the sharpening of inequalities, Duvvuri Subbarao said in an April 9 interview. Growing inequalities are not just a moral issue. They can erode consumption and hurt our long-term growth prospects.
N.Y. to Provide Vaccines to Colleges; U.K. Reopens: Virus Update
Bloomberg 1 hr ago
The weekly death toll from Covid-19 in the U.S. rose for the first time since February and infections climbed for a fourth straight week, even as vaccinations surge. New York City said it has administered more than 5 million doses.
A study in Brazil showed that Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s vaccine is slightly more than 50% effective, raising new concerns over the efficacy of the China’s suite of Covid-19 shots, which are being used in a range of countries as well as domestically.
India granted emergency use authorization to Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, making it the third shot approved for use. The decision came as the country battles a new wave of coronavirus, with a record number of new Covid-19 cases on Monday pushing its overall tally past 13.5 million infections.