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Just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from March 24, states like Punjab and Telangana were looking forward to a bumper harvest and smiles on the faces of their farmers. And on the faces of the owners and workers in West Bengal’s labour intensive jute mills. But the lockdown dashed everyone’s hopes. Farmers are unsure of how and who will procure their products. Especially given the acute lack of jute bags, given the complete shut down of West Bengal’s jute industry, putting lakhs of its workers out of jobs and income. It is during harvest time…

The coronavirus pandemic that has swept the globe is perhaps going to be recorded in history as the most impactful and consequential event of this century. It has stretched the capacities of governance, public health infrastructure and social administration of affected nations to their limits. At the same time, the lockdown enforced to prevent the spread has brought economies to the ground and jeopardised the job prospects of many. With unemployment soaring during these tough times, recent graduates waiting in the wings and looking for their first job feel marooned. According to the All India Survey of Higher Education by…

As the coronavirus outbreak shows no signs of abating any time soon, the economy of every nation, first world and third world, is in virtual free fall. For India too, COVID-19 is not only a public health challenge, but also an economic challenge that needs to be tackled on a war footing by the Central and state governments. Restricted cargo movement, weak supply chains, lack of liquidity in the markets, heavy cross-border movement by migrant workers and many other factors have added to the pressure on the economy. With relief packages aimed at the middle class and the poor being…

The first day of the month usually excites working people as they look forward to their salaries, but like so many other things, COVID-19 has changed that too. A large number of people are dreading the commencement of the month, as they are not likely to receive their salaries, even as they have to pay their rent, utilities and other bills. Primary among them are domestic workers, many of whom have already lost their jobs as a fallout of the coronavirus outbreak in the city. It is a fact that most gated communities and responsible resident welfare associations in Chennai…

It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in such trying times, when the COVID-19 crisis has impacted our work, business and community. On the one hand, there are essential service providers who toil hard risking their well-being to serve us; on the other, there is a majority of us, who are blessed to have the option to work from home (WFH). #WFH as a concept may not be new, but for many, the current circumstances present a new experience altogether. WFH requires a lot of discipline and planning. As someone who has worked from home for many years, here is…

Sheikh Serafat Hussain is a 70-year-old typist who operates from the footpath outside the Calcutta High Court. Even as the court premises teem with litigants and lawyers, Hussain, who has been sitting outside the high court for over 40 years, finds ample time to talk to visitors over a cup of tea or go for a casual amble during the court’s working hours. Hussain is the last of the typists who were once ubiquitous outside the high court, typing out people's petitions and other documents needed by litigants at the court. “We typists belong to a bygone era that will…

These are difficult times, and the world around us seems headed towards a dystopia of sorts. As discussed in our earlier interview with Dr Kalyanasundaram, Bengaluru-based Consultant Psychiatrist and an Honorary Adviser to the Bengaluru Branch of Richmond Fellowship Society, the risk of mental health issues has increased sharply. Indeed, we are already beginning to see signs among people caught in the situations created by the outbreak of coronavirus – corporate professionals struggling to get all work done from home, parents trying to keep their kids occupied and entertained all day, caregivers trying to explain the situation to the most…

Delhi 6, or Old Delhi, is famous for its street food. And every foodie who visits stops at Ashok Chat Corner, at the corner of Chowk Hauz Qazi. But while ordering their pick, customers often ask the man making the chats about the downed shutter in the tiny shop next door. “He has stopped coming,” the chatwala would reply. “He will be at home, it is just a few minutes’ walk. Take the straight road…..”, and would give directions to the home of Satya Narain Saxena – 2983, the tenth generation of a family of deed writers, today the last…

Dressed in white and khaki attire, he lets the vehicles at the Anna Rotary junction (under the Gemini flyover) pass towards Nungambakkam. It is 1 pm on a weekday and the mercury level is high. Perspiration trickles down the forehead of the serious-faced traffic cop, who stops a two-wheeler and penalises the rider for not wearing a helmet. Meet C Palani,  a stern, dark-skinned, 48-year-old Traffic Sub-Inspector from the E3 Teynampet Police Station who has manned traffic at various spots over a 10-km stretch in Teynampet, a busy area that is in proximity to the AIADMK office and the Chief…

Feeling too lazy to step out of your home? Don’t like your PG/hostel food? Your spouse can’t cook? No time to prepare lunch? Ran out of groceries? For all these reasons and more, food delivery services are a quick, one-click solution for millennials. An aerial view of Chennai today would show the long stretch of beach, sparse tree cover, myriad projects under construction across the city... and a sea of red, orange and green riders dotting its roads. Rapidly growing market Such is the rapid growth of food delivery services in the city over the past 5 years. The market leader…