April 2020

This may be the end of Reagan-Thatcher libertarian wave, says American economist Larry Summers Larry Summers, former Chief Economist at World Bank, is optimistic about post-pandemic recovery prospects. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Summers said that even though the current economic scenario may be grim, the recovery may be faster than what most people expect. Talking about how bad the current healthcare crisis looks in terms of its economic implications, Summers says, “I think the peak to trough decline is overwhelmingly likely to be worse than anything I’ve seen by a significant margin. Something like a third of the workforce is...

Von der Leyen ‘concerned’ over Hungary virus emergency law While saying EU countries may need extraordinary measures to tackle the pandemic, she added: “I am concerned that certain measures go too far – and I’m particularly concerned with the situation in Hungary.” Hungary’s parliament, dominated by Orbán’s ruling party, handed the prime minister the power from Tuesday to rule by decree until his government decides the virus crisis is over. The emergency law also threatens journalists with prison if they publish “falsehoods” about the virus or the government’s actions to slow it. On Thursday Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács sharply...

Jair Bolsonaro Says Brazil Cannot Take Months of Lockdown Due to COVID-19 President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that Brazilian society will not be able to stand two or three months of shutdowns to fight the new coronavirus, denouncing social-distancing measures enforced by states and municipalities across the country. “You know my stance. It will bring massive unemployment,” he told supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia. Source: News18

Putin keeps Russians at home through April 30 as coronavirus toll jumps President Vladimir Putin extended his order keeping Russians at home until April 30, warning that the spread of coronavirus has yet to reach its peak. “The threat remains,” Putin said Thursday in his second televised address on Covid-19 in just over a week, announcing that he’s extending a national order to work at home from this week to the end of the month. “In the view of virus experts, we haven’t yet reached the peak of the epidemic globally, including in our country.” Source: The Indian Express

Melbourne: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday urged the WHO and the UN to act against China’s wet markets, like the one where the deadly coronavirus is thought to have originated, as they pose “great risks” to the health and wellbeing of the rest of the world. A wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is believed to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic that began in December last year, crossing from animals to humans. The number of cases from the virus has reached one million worldwide and more than 51,000 deaths have been reported across more...

Covid fight is a balancing act for world’s economies: World Bank India Chief The Coronavirus pandemic is having a strong impact on the global economy. Questions are rife about the possible economic and financial fallout of asking a third of the world’s population to stay home and shutting down factories. Is a systemic financial crisis likely, maybe along the lines of the 2008 crisis 12 years ago? The World Bank’s India Chief says the two crises cannot be compared. In an interview to Times Now, Junaid Kamal Ahmad talked about how the coronavirus impact is different from the financial meltdown...

UP CM Yogi Adityanath says will open coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown in phased manner New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday (April 3) directed that a plan should be chalked out to open the lockdown in a phased manner if it opens from April 15, according to reports coming in. Yogi Adityanath is understood to have told top officials of the state to prepare a plan in this regard.  The Chief Minister, however, invoked National Security Act (NSA) against six persons from the Tablighi Jamaat, who were in quarantine at MMG District Hospital, for misbehaving with the hospital staff...

‘Have been watching so many movies that I can’t even remember the names’: PV Sindhu I was in self-quarantine since returning from the All England Open (in March). Though the two-week period has just ended, things haven’t changed much as we are now under a lockdown. Three months ago, everybody was expecting the Tokyo Olympics to take place as per schedule. We were playing tournaments and preparing ourselves. I was fine and prepared when I got to know about the Olympics being postponed. I was anyway not sure if the Olympics would happen this year because every other day a...

World Cup 2011 was won by the entire India, says Gautam Gambhir April 2 – The date has been etched in the Indian fans’ heart forever. On the same day, India won the World Cup after a long wait of 28 years. MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir played match-winning knocks in the night of the final to help the team chase down a mammoth score and scripted history. The country, on Thursday, is celebrating the ninth anniversary of the historic day and recalling the golden moments of the Indian cricket. Many laud the then Indian skipper for promoting himself to number five...

These are strange times, just grateful to be at home: Virat Kohli on coronavirus lockdown India captain Virat Kohli opened up on what all he is doing and how he has been spending time at home during the current 21-day lockdown in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kohli is at home with wife Anushka Sharma in Mumbai and joined former England captain Kevin Pietersen in a candid chat on Instagram. It was during this that Pietersen asked Kohli about the lockdown. Kohli said he was grateful to be in self-isolation at his house in Mumbai and empathised with...