Sukumar Ranganathan is the Editor-in-Chief of Hindustan Times. He is also a comic-book freak and an amateur birder.
Articles by R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
It is unlikely that the revision, up by 1,290 to a total of 3,869 deaths in Wuhan, will stop questions about the accuracy of China’s numbers. In fact, it will likely raise even more questions.
Updated on Apr 18, 2020 03:50 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
This column has pointed out, more than once, that the trajectory of Covid-19 infections in India is very different from that in any other country.
Updated on Apr 17, 2020 05:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
As cities, states, and countries around the world grapple with the Covid-19 disease, it is becoming clear that there is often an unmeasured but significant cost in terms of lives (leave alone livelihoods).
Updated on Apr 16, 2020 06:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The extension of the lockdown, announced on Tuesday by the Prime Minister, means that by May 3, India would have been in quarantine for 40 days.
Updated on Apr 15, 2020 05:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The government has to find a way of balancing two situations that, on the face of it, look like they cannot be balanced.
Updated on Apr 14, 2020 07:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The big focus for India this week will be containment of Covid-19 and enhanced testing, at least in the containment zones.
Updated on Apr 07, 2020 06:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
There are huge variations in countries where Covid-19 cases have now been identified. At one end, is countries like Italy where fatality rate is 12% and on the other there’s Germany with 1.5% fatality rate.
Updated on Apr 06, 2020 07:28 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Over the past few days, there’s been a lot of talk of the antibody test for Covid-19, and how the widespread use of this test could help get people back to work quickly (and get the wheels of economies chugging).
Updated on Apr 05, 2020 02:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
We are learning more about the enemy with every passing day.
Updated on Apr 04, 2020 04:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
It emerges that the big issue in Delhi right now is the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment). This is a problem in other cities and states, and, indeed, in many parts of the world.
Updated on Apr 03, 2020 03:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Globally, the number of deaths stood at 45,540, and the number of infections at 912,098 people on Wednesday afternoon.
Updated on Apr 02, 2020 04:32 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Coronavirus update: The headquarters, Markaz Nizamuddin, where around 2,000 people were staying even as recently as the weekend, will likely end up being India’s own Diamond Princess, the cruise ship that saw 712 infections.
Updated on Apr 01, 2020 08:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The trajectory of the disease in the US is one reason why India’s lockdown is critical. It’s also the reason Indians have to take the lockdown seriously.
Updated on Mar 31, 2020 05:03 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Coronavirus update: India’s promptness in scanning travellers, restricting and then entirely barring international travellers from entering the country, and announcing a nationwide lockdown (include complete cessation of train and air travel) till the middle of April should start kicking in now, hopefully flattening the curve.
Updated on Mar 30, 2020 05:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: How it will change companies
At 10.30pm on Saturday night, India had 1,013 cases with nearly 44% of them concentrated in Maharashtra, Kerala, and Karnataka.
Updated on Mar 29, 2020 09:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Purely based on the numbers and nothing else, the rate of Covid-19 infection seems to increase sharply once countries cross a certain threshold. On March 27, the number of cases in India crossed 800. It was 878 at 10:45pm on Friday. Clearly, the next few weeks are crucial for India. The country is in a lockdown till April 15.
Updated on Mar 28, 2020 05:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Coronavirus update: Day 2 of the 21-day lockdown India has enforced was smoother than Day 1, with people figuring out that most essential products and services will be available, governments doing their bit to address concerns and iron out kinks, and local police departments starting to believe that not everyone who is out on the streets is a rule-breaker.
Updated on Mar 27, 2020 07:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
India won’t be the only country whose economy is affected by Covid-19. The global economy itself could go into recession, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Updated on Mar 26, 2020 04:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
As of Tuesday, India has 536 infections, and ten deaths.
Updated on Mar 25, 2020 07:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
As of Monday, 28 states and Union territories were under complete lockdown. That’s at least 75% of the country’s population pretty much in self-isolation and practising social distancing.
Updated on Mar 24, 2020 10:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
All passenger trains have been cancelled till the end of the month, as were all interstate buses. All Metro services, and Mumbai’s suburban network, also announced closure till March 31.
Updated on Mar 23, 2020 07:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: How it will change the world
Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has highlighted the risks of the networked, globalised approach countries and people around the world have adopted for work, and life, building on and amplifying fractures that emerged in 2008.
Updated on Mar 22, 2020 07:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Friday was also the first real day of a near-lockdown in many states. Maharashtra announced measures to the effect; Delhi announced more; and other states followed suit.
Updated on Mar 21, 2020 07:50 AM IST
New Delhi, Hindustan Times | R Sukumar
Covid 19: What you need to know today
In India, there have been instances of people jumping quarantines and not practising self-isolation. The government is now considering stamping the hands of all people arriving from overseas with indelible ink and fines for those who skip quarantines.
Updated on Mar 20, 2020 11:05 AM IST
Hindustan Times | R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The fast-spreading disease that jumped from animals to humans in China has now infected about 200,000 people and caused nearly 8,300 deaths in 164 nations.
Updated on Mar 19, 2020 09:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Taxpayers mature, can save or spend, says finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman
The government’s budget for the 2020-21 financial year was presented by Union finance minister Niramala Sitharaman.
Updated on Feb 02, 2020 06:16 AM IST
New Delhi | R Sukumar, Anil Padmanabhan and Ajay Mishra
3 technologies that could ensure the world will never be the same again
Three technologies, which could change everything (and that means everything), had their defining moments in the 2010s. The advancements meant the world will never be the same again.
Updated on Dec 26, 2019 12:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar
Peak taxation rate of 42.7% not ideal: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
Ideally, the peak income-tax rate of 42.7% should come down over time, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday in an interview, repeating and stressing the word “ideally”.
Updated on Jul 12, 2019 08:50 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar and Shishir Gupta
‘We’ve given ourselves achievable targets,’ says Nirmala Sitharaman
A week after her and the second Narendra Modi-led government’s first budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman sat down with Hindustan Times to discuss the budget’s vision for growth.
Updated on Jul 12, 2019 10:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | R Sukumar and Shishir Gupta
‘Govt’s policy initiatives have changed lives’: PM Modi
Narendra Modi said the government had expended a lot of effort in mitigating water problems, but that had “not hit the headlines of newspapers as it should have”.
Updated on May 10, 2019 07:38 AM IST
New Delhi | Shishir Gupta and R Sukumar