-The Hindu The country reported as many 3,15,660 cases and 2,091 deaths. For the first time, more than 3 lakh COVID-19 cases were registered in a single day in India on April 21. As many as 3,15,660 cases and 2,091 deaths were recorded in the country as of 11.15 p.m. IST on April 21. No country has recorded more cases in a single day. The country has so far reported a total...

-The Hindu They were “harassed, abused and traumatised” and disparagingly called ‘coronavirus,’ says study A study commissioned by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on racial discrimination and hate crimes against people from the northeast States found that the “northeast India seamlessly fits [an] Indian’s imagination of a Chinese person”. The study found that 78% of the people from the region who were interviewed believed that physical appearance was the most...

-The Hindu There is a need to acknowledge the project’s appeal and the intricacies of representation in order to counter it Modern democracies are erected upon the twin pillars of rights and representation. While rights define the minimum due of individuals and communities vis-à-vis the state, representation enables the diverse voices in a polity to be heard. However, most critiques interrogate Hindutva through the limited lens of representation, arguing that it essentially...

-PTI/ The Hindu With this, 20 States are now eligible for an additional borrowing of 0.25% of Gross State Domestic Product. As many as 20 States have successfully completed ease of doing business reforms, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday. States completing the reforms are eligible for additional borrowing of 0.25% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). “The number of States that have successfully completed the 'Ease of Doing Business' reforms has reached to...

When a massive sum of public money is spent on a programme like Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA)--a demand-driven programme, there is likelihood of financial misappropriations and mismanagement. Thankfully there are checks and balances in the rural employment guarantee legislation to counter such malpractices. It is worth noting that the total allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) for 2020-21 was Rs. 1,11,500.00 crore (R.E.), up...