-The Telegraph Minister says GOI has not enumerated caste-wise population, other than SCs and STs in Census since independence, not in line with statement made to SC The Centre has told Parliament that it “has not enumerated” caste-wise populations other than those of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes since Independence, contradicting a statement it made in the Supreme Court three months ago. In that court affidavit of September 21, the social justice...

-Livemint.com A new paper suggests the second covid-19 wave had a more fatal impact on Chennai’s poorer neighbourhoods than richer ones Poorer communities saw far more excess deaths during the pandemic than richer neighbourhoods, evidence from a new Chennai-based study shows. Taken with data from other parts of the country, the findings suggest that India’s poor, particularly the elderly, may have disproportionately borne the burden of the pandemic’s fatal impact. In a study...

-Forward Press An email interview with one of the foremost development economists against the backdrop of the latest report of the World Inequality Lab describing India as one of the most unequal countries in the world The World Inequality Lab has just published the World Inequality Report 2022. The Paris-based organization, which is directed by top economists, including Thomas Piketty, has painted a grim picture of the inequality in India based on...

-Hindustan Times NFHS-5, the most comprehensive survey on socio-economic and health indicators in the country, shows some surprising demographic transitions. The Union health ministry released the summary findings of the fifth round of the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted in two phases between 2019 and 2021, on November 24. NFHS is the most comprehensive survey on socio-economic and health indicators in the country. While the results of the first phase...

The virility of Muslim men vis-à-vis men from other religious communities have often been used as a political tool and to create a divisive agenda just before elections for getting votes from the majority of the Indian electorate who are Hindus. Instead of focusing on positive agendas like human development, employment generation, and poverty reduction, political campaigns just before the elections oftentimes reduce to mere communal propaganda (when a lot...