HTLS 2020 highlights: Dr David Sinclair endorses vegetarian diet to fight ageing

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman says fiscal deficit will be higher than presented in budget this year.

The finance minister said over 30 crore people received cash benefits during the pandemic, which may not be adequate, but they received.

"Glad the agriculture minister is meeting the farmers with open mind. Hope a solution is found soon," the finance minister said.

"We procure under MSP. We have proved that this government is serious about MSP," the finance minister said.

"One thing is clear. Under PM Modi a lot of homework happens before taking the final call. Every party has spoken about it. In fact, these reforms were part of their manifestos. I know the agriculture ministry talked with the stakeholders before the laws were finalised," says Sitharaman

With periodic intervention from governmentt, blip in inflation will ease out, says @nsitharaman at #HTLS2020. Watch pic.twitter.com/YhyHTpMEwz

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) December 4, 2020

"We don't know the details of the vaccine. Will it be one dose or two dose? Will there be recurrent doses? Unless we get these details, how much per dose will cost, we can't say about vaccine's budgetary provision," Sitharaman said.

"Inflation on food prices will not continue. It can be attributed to seasonal fluctuation," the finance minister said.

Commenting on the rising demand in many sectors, the finance minister said this demand is likely to sustain. "Many industrial leaders are looking at capacity expansion, not just in one unit but across the country," Sitharaman said.

Recovery is there - some say patchy - but it has been happening, the finance minister said.

"The world saw unexplainable challenges in the wake of the Covid-19," the finance minister says in her opening remarks.

The finance minister will be speaking to R Sukumar, editor-in-chief, Hindustan Times about India's economic recovery post the pandemic.

The act of cooking is an ethical choice. Let’s start asking where our food comes from, and how to secure its future. That was the Italian master chef Massimo Bottura, best known for the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, and his pandemic-era Instagram series Kitchen Quarantine, speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Thursday. Read

It can be difficult to comprehend that two of the world’s greatest tennis professionals with 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them can feel pain and suffering so deeply. Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf have tasted literally everything there is on the platter at the biggest stage of tennis: Grand Slam success, world No. 1 ranking, Olympic gold. And yet, for them, struggle remained a companion even at the top. Read