Category:

Disaster & Management

SC order for free Covid-19 testing may hinder fight,say experts

To beef up the infrastructure for screening, the government approved 56 laboratories for testing in addition to 136 government-run labs and set a price cap of 4,500 Indian rupees ($59.13) for every test.

The plan is to scale up to 20,000 tests in the next few days and eventually to 100,000 a day in the worse-case scenario.

But the court decision threatens to derail the plan to widen testing, said Shamika Ravi, a former member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and a health specialist.

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WTO says global trade collapse may be worst in a generation

In an optimistic scenario, the WTO said global merchandise trade could fall 13% in 2020 and rebound 21% in 2021 — compared with a 0.1% contraction in 2019. In the optimistic scenario, gross domestic product could contract by 2.5% in 2020 and grow by 7.4% in 2021.

In a pessimistic case, the volume of global goods trade could drop by as much as 32% this year with the possibility of a 24% increase next year. In this situation, world GDP could shrink by as much as 8.8% in 2020 and expand by 5.9% in 2021.

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Centre launches “iGOT” training module for frontline COVID-19 warriors

Courses on iGOT have been launched for doctors, nurses, paramedics, hygiene workers, technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMs), State Government officers, civil defence officers, various police organisations, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme, Indian Red Cross Society, Bharat Scouts and Guides and other volunteers.

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After virus fades, service industries may be changed forever

The pandemic is almost sure to leave a mark on the way people work, shop and socialize, perhaps permanently shifting the way many service industries operate. Consumers will think harder about the health implications of squeezing into crowded restaurants and movie theaters. More businesses will accept the effectiveness of employees who work from home, and the move to online shopping will accelerate

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COVID-19 crisis can push 40 cr informal sector workers in India deeper into poverty: ILO

According to the new study, 1.25 billion workers are employed in the sectors identified as being at high risk of “drastic and devastating” increases in layoffs and reductions in wages and working hours. Many are in low-paid, low-skilled jobs, where a sudden loss of income is devastating.

Looked at regionally, the proportion of workers in these “at risk” sectors varies from 41 per cent in the Americas to 26 per cent in Asia and the Pacific.

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