FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

he past six months have been a nightmare for the nation and the government, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit India between March and April this year. As in several countries, the second wave dealt a double blow—to public health and prospects of an economic recovery—in India too. The surge of infections and deaths overwhelmed central as well as state capacities. Government statistics show that half of the 329,065 Covid deaths in the 14 months since April 2020 occurred in April-May this year. The Indian economy, already on skid row before the pandemic, plunged into negative territory for the entire