-The Hindu No sample was found COVID-19 positive, but most of the patients had influenza B and respiratory syncytial virus. Kolkata: Hundreds of children across several districts of north Bengal have been hospitalised with symptoms of viral infection. Reports that at least six children have died in the past few days — three in Jalpaiguri, two in Malda and one in Uttar Dinjapur — have spread fear and panic in the State. Chief...

-The Hindu A troubled Meghalaya will see unrest growing until 2023, when the next elections are due, says the editor of ‘The Shillong Times’, Patricia Mukhim On August 13, an ailing former leader of an armed group was shot dead in the middle of the night at his home in Shillong by a police team. The incident led to unrest in Mawlai where the encounter occurred and resonated in the adjoining neighbourhoods...

-The Telegraph The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has topped the education ministry’s ranking under the National Institutional Ranking Framework this year JNU has held on to the second spot in the government’s ranking of universities this year while the Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University have improved their places despite all three facing campus turmoil and government attempts to dilute their character. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has topped the...

-Frontline.thehindu.com The RBI’s proposal to loosen regulations for private lenders in the microfinance space will have disastrous consequences for the poor, especially women in rural areas. Microfinance, a category of financial services aimed at serving people from low-income households who lack access to conventional Banking credit and services, was originally designed by international finance capital institutions such as the World Bank as an alternative to providing direct concessional credit to the poor—which...

-UN News Many extreme environmental events have a devastating effect on people’s lives, and a new UN report reveals that many of them are linked by the same underlying causes. On the day the study is released, we look at the impact of a locust swarm on a Kenyan farmer, and the ways that Cyclone Amphan affected an Indian worker. The huge locust swarm which hit the Horn of Africa in the...