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
The prickly problem of greater-good debates
Forcing people to change their personal choices in the interests of a greater good could have far-reaching implications. But at some point of time, each of us will have to consciously make choices based on what’s good for the environment
Pulp-it | No one has figured out how to win T20s yet
The T20 format is yet to see a team with the right mix of skills, strategy, and captaincy. When one emerges (and it will take some doing), the form book will start to matter again in the format
A tale of IIT admissions, coaching institutes, and students as brand ambassadors
How many coaching classes does an IIT-JEE topper need? 42
Happy to see economic recovery: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman
The Finance minister said, “I’m happy to see recovery; at this stage we want to have very positive signs from all segments so that mutually they create this thing called sentiment. If sentiment becomes positive, it creates a multiplier effect.”
Updated on Sep 21, 2021 12:52 AM IST
Banks themselves will drive bad bank, says Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that she was confident the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), effectively a bad bank, will work because “this entire mechanism is driven by the banks”
Published on Sep 20, 2021 11:52 PM IST
R Sukumar, New Delhi
‘Happy to see economic recovery’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the resolution formula is the one that will be given priority. Not liquidation. When you look at resolution – there is an implicit message being given that these are workable assets, and that with some doing they will be valuable.
Vaccination: Focus on hesitancy, the 12-18 age group, and booster shots
The experience of the United States, where many infections, most hospitalisations, and almost all deaths currently being seen, are among the unvaccinated is a cautionary tale
From a pandemic to an endemic, India’s vaccine drive enables a way out
Those managing India’s vaccine drive have always been a step or two behind the curve. But a reading of the infection and vaccination trajectories indicates that they need to start planning now for a future of endemic Covid-19.
Updated on Aug 18, 2021 08:16 PM IST
R Sukumar
To a Republic of reason: R Sukumar on India’s 75th Independence Day
Amid challenges that range from a pandemic to rising school dropout rates, the climate crisis and an economy that has suffered body blows, there are answers, but they won’t be the easy ones. May we return to first principles, and may the science be with us.
The twists and turns in India’s telecom policy
The Vodafone crisis is a reflection of the arbitrariness in policymaking. Its collapse will lead to a duopoly, an undesirable outcome
Updated on Aug 04, 2021 07:07 PM IST
R Sukumar
How to get the next set of reforms right
Second-generation reforms require careful deliberation, effective implementation, and accommodative politics
Updated on Aug 02, 2021 12:00 PM IST
R Sukumar
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Some experts are also of the opinion that it could become the dominant strain in most parts of the world, replacing Alpha, which was first sequenced in the UK.
Updated on Jun 16, 2021 05:22 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some states keen to show their ability in managing the pandemic have under-reported deaths by simply ascribing them to other causes
Updated on Jun 15, 2021 05:43 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
It is also believed that Covaxin, the other vaccine that is currently part of India’s vaccination programme, is also very effective against the variant, but data on this isn’t available.
Updated on Jun 11, 2021 05:16 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The chaos and confusion over India’s vaccine drive, and recent scientific revelations point to the need for some changes in how India procures vaccines, and how and when it administers them.
Updated on Jun 08, 2021 05:19 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: Four steps that can help India avoid a third wave
Decisions on where to ease lockdowns and restrictions on the basis of vaccination, ramping up the vaccination programme, linking the stringency of non-pharmaceutical interventions in place in a district to the proportion of vaccinated population and enhancing surveillance to identify potential threats from new variants of concern are among the steps that can prevent another wave of the pandemic.
Updated on Jun 03, 2021 07:16 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
Even after May 31, restrictions on movement and activities were eased in phases, and returned to pre-pandemic levels only in the last quarter of the financial year (January-March).
Updated on Jun 01, 2021 06:13 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
India reported 81,413 cases of Covid-19 on April 1. By April 11, this climbed to 170,100; by April 15, 216,913. On May 5, the country reported 412,783 cases.
Updated on May 31, 2021 06:02 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
By the end of June, Covax will be around 190 million doses short of its target, according to Covax chief Seth Berkley (as cited in an article in Science).
Updated on May 28, 2021 06:35 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
As India considers opening up as the second wave abates (Delhi, for instance, has seen a sharp fall in positivity rates to the low single digits, and could start opening up as early as next week), it would do well to focus on what may well have been a silent contributor to the surge in cases – ventilation.
Updated on May 26, 2021 07:38 AM IST
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The wise men in charge of the country’s Covid-19 response likely know all this already, but here’s a quick reminder of five things that will help stave off the third wave (or, at the least, lessen its intensity).
Updated on May 25, 2021 06:15 AM IST
R Sukumar, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
How do you under-report deaths from Covid-19? Technically, this is possible in two ways, one generic and the other, specific.
Updated on May 24, 2021 06:13 AM IST
Play a song for me: If Wknd had to pick 5 Dylan albums, it would be these
Behind every beautiful thing: Also check out 10 Dylan covers that HT’s editor-in-chief R Sukumar thinks are up there.
Covid-19: What you need to know today
By the end of May, India would have reported at least 100,000 deaths for the month. No country, not the US, not Brazil, has reported more deaths in a month
Updated on May 21, 2021 10:17 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The fact that Covid-19 was a new disease, and the intensity of the first wave in some countries (subsequent waves would go on to be worse, but no one knew this back then) prompted a desperate search for drugs, in some ways made it acceptable to lower the bar for them.
Updated on May 19, 2021 07:49 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The seven-day average of new cases in the US was 33,041. That translates into a Case Fatality Rate (recorded deaths/reported cases) of 1.8%. The corresponding numbers on March 16 were 1,306 and 54,949 for a CFR of 2.4%.
Updated on May 18, 2021 05:54 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
B.1.617.2 accounted for 46% of sequences from India uploaded to the database between March 1 and April 30; and B.1.617.1 another 19%.
Updated on May 17, 2021 06:02 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The best time to prepare for the next pandemic is soon after seeing the current one off.
Updated on May 14, 2021 07:09 AM IST
R Sukumar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
India has an estimated 940 million people over the age of 18. Experts say that vaccines will start having an impact on infection rates when 40% of the eligible population has been vaccinated, if even partially, as long as non-pharmaceutical interventions continue.
Updated on May 13, 2021 10:16 PM IST
R Sukumar, New Delhi
Covid-19: What you need to know today
But carelessness, complacency, poor science, wrong priorities, and a botched vaccine drive (compounded by stubbornness in correcting the course) have resulted in things spiralling out of control.
Updated on May 12, 2021 06:59 AM IST