OPINION

ITHACA – The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, published twice a year, is the most important source for evaluating the current and future outlook for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). The recently released June edition is especially significant because of the warnings it contains. Someone reading this report too quickly could easily …

NEW YORK – The Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily has been forced to close. On the day it was shuttered, people queued to buy one last copy; a million were printed. The paper was doomed since last year, when China’s Communist government imposed a harsh National Security Law on Hong Kong. Its …

LONDON – The G7 summit starting on Friday will mark the first time that world leaders have met in person for almost two years. It is Joe Biden’s first such meeting as US president and Angela Merkel’s last as German Chancellor. The gathering will also be the first test of …

The 2008 judgment of the Thimphu High Court in the defamation case involving the former Director of Revenue and Customs, Sangay Zam, Finance Minster, Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, and Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, on the one hand, and the former authorised agent of PlayWin online lottery, Sangay Dorji, raises some interesting questions …

CAMBRIDGE – A century ago, an influenza pandemic killed more people than died in World War I. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed more Americans than died in all US wars since 1945. A big difference, however, is that science did not have a vaccine for the influenza virus back …

It was always evident that the ACC’s investigation of corruption allegations around Gypsum would be its most difficult case, and this paper said as much when they started their investigation.  The reason being that this was ACC’s first attempt at a cross border investigation and all the main information, wrong …

THACA – The world is currently transfixed by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping through many regions, especially Asia, Africa, and South America. But, focused as we are on the public-health crisis, we risk overlooking pandemic-related economic problems that could plague developing countries long after the wave has …

Ten streams of evidence collectively support the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted primarily by the airborne route. First, superspreading events account for substantial SARS-CoV-2 transmission; indeed, such events may be the pandemic’s primary drivers.  Detailed analyses of human behaviours and interactions, room sizes, ventilation, and other variables in choir concerts, …

India averted major deaths or health system burdening in the 2020 wave of COVID-19. But today, and as per official records, India clocks more than 4,000 deaths and 4,00,000 new infections every day due to COVID-19.  The unfolding humanitarian crisis has brought India to its knees. Modelling by the Institute …

NEW DELHI – The Biden administration’s decision to stop opposing a proposed COVID-19 waiver of certain intellectual-property rights under World Trade Organization rules is a welcome move. The US Trade Representative acknowledges that “the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.” While affirming that it “believes strongly in intellectual property protections,” …