In 1918, India was beset by an influenza pandemic which lasted till 1920. The disease affected all individuals between the age of 20 and 40 in particular – the Ganga, it was stated, it was swollen with dead bodies (Suryakant Tripathi, the famed poet). In its aftermath, the pandemic killed over 14-17 million (~5% of the population), the highest in the world. India’s population actually fell in the decade between 1911 and 1921. In March 2020, India was faced with grave predictions about the COVID-19 outbreak – It was even…

Uber will be defend its business model on Tuesday at Britain’s Supreme Court in a battle over rights in the workplace that it could have ramifications for millions of Britons earning a living in the gig economy. In a case brought by two then Uber drivers in London, an employment tribunal ruled in 2016 that they were entitled to workers’ with rights such as the minimum wage, paid holidays, and rest breaks. As things stand, Uber drivers are treated as self-employed, meaning they are legally entitled only to minimal protections. Uber…

New Delhi: Pitching strongly for India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is time that the United Nations reflects the ground realities of the contemporary world. In his address to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), PM Modi said while the path to sustainable existence is through multilateralism, but multilateralism “needs to reflect the reality of our contemporary world”. He said that only a reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations as it centre can meet the aspirations of humanity….

New Delhi: Apple assembly partner Pegatron is making preparations for its first plant in India, adding to a large influx of foreign tech investments in the country this year. In June, the government set out a $6.6 billion plan to woo the world’s top smartphone manufacturers, offering the financial incentives and ready-to-use manufacturing clusters. Pegatron is now setting up a local subsidiary and joining fellow Taiwanese electronics assemblers Foxconn Technology Group and Wistron, who have already been making some iPhone handsets in southern India. With a number of factories in…