CATEGORIES

The T20 World Cup gave us self-belief

Harmanpreet Kaur had led a team with newbies—with no experience of playing in an ICC tournament before— to the 2020 Women’s T20I World Cup final. Relaxing at her home in Moga, Punjab, Kaur has had time to think about what went right and wrong for her team. Speaking exclusively with THE WEEK, the Indian skipper says that the gains from the World Cup weigh more than the losses. Excerpts:

THE ROAD FROM ROME

The Covid-19 crisis asks us to rethink our health care system in a transnational way

Thank you, dear doctors

During this most challenging test faced by humanity, what has kept our spirits and hopes going is the incredible courage and commitment displayed by the medical fraternity across the world.

Package of ₹15,000 crore is inadequate

FORMER UNION FINANCE minister P. Chidambaram is of the view that perhaps India was late in initiating a nationwide lockdown.

The fight is on

The Covid-19 outbreak has brought the world to a standstill. Sweeping changes are necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

System failure

Regulatory issues, lack of corporate governance and political interference make cooperative banks a mess difficult to clean up.

Iron men, or feet of clay?

If you really feel the urge to milk something, go find a cow,” read the rather terse headline of a print ad issued by a leading newspaper on March 20.

Apart From Vaccine, Research On Drugs Should Be Expedited

Dr Priya Abraham, who heads the National Institute of Virology in Pune, and her team have successfully isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus, enabling scientists to work on vaccine candidates and drug research. It will also help evaluate diagnostic kits. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Abraham spoke about her team’s expertise in testing and stressed on the need to ramp up efforts to deal with the ongoing crisis.

Covid-19: When The Wild Moves In

All recent epidemics emerged, and reemerged more virulent and dangerous, as a result of human encroachment of forests

How China Turned Around The Fight Against Covid-19

Once the epicentre of the pandemic, China managed to contain it through awareness, a strict implementation of medical protocols and drastic economic measures

A Hero's Dilemma

Rajinikanth’s new moves indicate that he may be looking for a graceful exit from politics

Recreating a virus

How a team of researchers in Canada, including Indian-origin Dr Arinjay Banerjee, isolated the virus responsible for Covid-19

Lotus focused

How the BJP plans on winning West Bengal, and why the governor might be a crucial factor in that pursuit

Justice not delayed

Ranjan Gogoi’s swift entry into the Rajya Sabha further diminishes his dubious legacy in judiciary

Hanging on to hope

Italians are reacting to fear in the most natural way—with optimism, the quality for which the world admires them the most

Control keys

While India has not reached the community transmission stage of Covid-19 yet, it needs to bolster its public health system, improve lab facilities and ensure individual compliance to safety measures in order to curb its spread

Covid-19 Vaccine Will Be The First Of Its Kind To Be Made In India

We are likely to get the animal trials data in the next few months. All these will take a year and a half, if not two, until the vaccine is developed.

India Not Prepared For Coronavirus

India seems quite blasé about the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), even as it spreads alarmingly through China, with more than 75,000 people being infected and the number of fatalities climbing upwards.

Investing In The Time Of Corona

In the fear of the downside, investors may miss out on the upside

DISTANT DIPLOMACY

Namaste is the flavour of the season, especially in Delhi’s diplomatic circles. The reason: Covid-19. Handshakes are avoided and diplomatic missions have issued guidelines to employees to avoid cheek kissing and to stay at home in case of a flu. At the International Womens’ Day celebration at the Dutch embassy, the deputy chief of mission, Anneke Adema, had the namaste down pat— each guest was greeted with one. Just for good measure, the embassy gave gifts to the attendees tiny wooden clogs and a small bottle of sanitiser.

At least a year until a vaccine is ready, but no guarantee

Dr Tom Frieden is former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former commissioner of the New York City Health Department. He is currently president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global nonprofit working on preventing epidemics and cardiovascular diseases. On March 10, he wrote about the worst case scenario in Covid-19—it could kill up to 10 lakh people in the US. In an exclusive interview to THE WEEK, Frieden discussed how little experts know about the virus, the uncertainty of drug treatments and vaccines and how vulnerable the world is to such epidemics.

Like Nipah, Coronavirus, Too, Has Taught Us Lessons

January 30, 2.30am. It was an odd hour for a media briefing. But, only a few hours earlier, Kerala had confirmed the first-ever case of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in India. After a two-hour-long meeting of the rapid response team, Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja told the media that the state was all set to tackle the disease that had caught the world unawares.

State of apathy

With promises made to Nirbhaya’s family unkept, her ancestral village lies neglected

Rebel prince

Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and the high command are equally responsible for Scindia’s exit

Tale of two heads

Two Lingayat mutts set the stage for a social revolution by naming a Muslim man and an OBC woman as pontiffs

Leadership vacuum, not crisis

Democratically electing a full-time party president could help change public perception of the Congress

Taking Gwalior

How a former banker and a royal relative persuaded Jyotiraditya Scindia to jump ship

Eat, pray, dance

Author Elizabeth Gilbert on how to love and groove in these uncertain times

EXIT WOUND

MORE THAN THE POWER TUSSLE IN MADHYA PRADESH, IT WAS THE BREAKDOWN OF TRUST BETWEEN HIM AND RAHUL GANDHI THAT LED TO JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA’S EXIT. WITH THE OLD GUARD STILL CALLING THE SHOTS AND RAHUL BEING “UNRESPONSIVE”, A FEW MORE CONGRESS LEADERS MIGHT FOLLOW IN SCINDIA’S FOOTSTEPS.

Distilliing heritage

Meet the Goa-based entrepreneur who is reimagining everything from tequila to mahua