Taiwan message: New Delhi-Taipei cooperation is both mutually beneficial and a pointed signal to China April 4, 2021, 8:16 PM IST
Times of India’s Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day.
Taiwan recently saw its worst rail accident in 40 years that killed at least 51 people and left 188 injured on Friday, and reaching out in this situation is in one sense natural. Nevertheless, when foreign affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi put out a condolence message on social media and Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu responded, it was seen to be laden with geopolitical significance as China sees Taiwan as a renegade province and is extremely sensitive about countries making official contact with the island.
In less than 24 hours, government reversed Tuesday evening’s decision to reduce the interest rate on small savings schemes. The episode highlights the flaws of the current approach to setting interest rates. These schemes are.
Vaccination 3.0: India’s learning from the first two phases is, empower local decision-making April 2, 2021, 10:25 AM IST
Times of India’s Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day.
Commencement of vaccination for the 45+ age group – originally slated to begin only in August after the priority groups were inoculated – is wise improvisation amid the second Covid wave that recorded 72,000 infections and claimed 459 lives on Wednesday. The previous phases covering healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens faltered, with scaling up remaining a challenge. Against an estimated 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers, 1.73 crore have taken the first dose and 91 lakh the second dose. Against an estimated 27 crore senior citizens and those with comorbidities, 3.05 crore senior citizens and 78 lakh people with comorbidities have taken first doses
Understand the second Covid wave better: Improve surveillance April 2, 2021, 2:15 PM IST
TOI Quick Edits are written by a team of seasoned journalists from the Times of India s Edit Page and TOI-Online who respond to important news stories as they develop. The team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. LESS. MORE
With India’s Covid case count surging to 81,000 fresh cases on Thursday after recording 72,000 cases the day before, the suspicion among health experts that the virus has become more infectious and less lethal needs to be probed closely. The hypothesis has arisen because of the much lower fatality rate in Maharashtra during the second wave compared to the first wave even as cases have mushroomed uncontrollably.
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Navigating the political economy’s pitfalls: No easy options for government after small savings scheme interest rate cut fiasco April 1, 2021, 2:14 PM IST
TOI Quick Edits are written by a team of seasoned journalists from the Times of India s Edit Page and TOI-Online who respond to important news stories as they develop. The team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. LESS. MORE
The rollback of the significant cuts to interest rates of various small savings schemes reveal the increasing difficulty faced by government in managing the political economy while pursuing lower interest rates to stimulate growth. The savings scheme interest rates are lower or just a little over the inflation rate, signifying the anxiety among the middle class over poor returns on investment that came bubbling to the surface in the aftermath of the rate cut.