-The Hindu Narendra Modi has announced a 21-day lockdown starting from midnight tonight as a major step in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. During the “containment” period of 21 days from March 25, 2020, the following services Will remain open: * Shops, including ration shops, dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder. District authorities to encourage home delivery to minimise individual movement. * Banks, insurance offices and...

-Hindustan Times Today’s choices will determine the future of the Indian State’s relationship with citizens The only certainty in the coronavirus-induced global chaos is that the idea of the nation-state as the all-Powerful, enforcer of social order is back. After decades of globalisation, neo-liberalisation and privatisation, in this moment of crisis, people across the globe are looking to their national governments and willingly giving up their civil liberties in favour of absolute...

-The Indian Express The petitions had also challenged Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which provides legal backing for the NRC, on the grounds that it suffered from excessive delegation of Powers to the executive and is therefore arbitrary. New Delhi: In its first legal response before the Supreme Court on a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), the central government has said that it is a “necessary exercise for any...

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in China during early January this year and its dissemination globally within a few days, health experts have suggested ways to check its spread exponentially among the rest of the population. In the age of internet connectivity, work-from-home and self-isolation have been advised as solutions to ensure social distancing and avoid large-scale social gatherings. Experts have asked governments and private enterprises to keep people at...

-The Hindu The absence of playgrounds and electricity in govt. schools speaks poorly of policy priorities It should rank as an irony that as a founder-leader of the International Solar Alliance, India has not yet electrified a significant number of government schools, while extolling the elegance and virtue of photovoltaic electricity to the rest of the world. The lack of Power in schools is taken note of by the Parliamentary Standing Committee...