-The Telegraph Some clauses of the draft of the Indian Forest Act 2019 are extraordinarily undemocratic Forests are considered planetary resources of great importance: as carbon sinks, as repositories for biodiversity, as effective tools for local climate control, and as a source of timber and related produce. Forests have been dwelling places for people, too. It is important from the point of view of sustainable development that forests be preserved and biodiversity...

-The Pioneer In the absence of any sunset clause or distinct feature to identify the beneficiaries who succeed in climbing themselves out of poverty, the scheme of direct cash transfer as an income support welfare measure and as a potent tool of empowerment does not sound convincing even on paper Thanks to the proposal for the universal basic income, it has become a topic for discussion as one-fifth population of this country...

-The Economic Times A campaign called 'Bridge the Care Gap' has been lobbying political parties to commit to the implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act and the National Mental Health Policy On April 2, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders unveiled the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress website crashed with a huge spike in traffic. Most analyses of the manifesto focused on the usual themes...

-The Indian Express Far from the excitement of entering a new grade, thousands of EWS children are facing an uncertain future as they reach Class IX. With parents being asked to pay fee they cannot afford, The Indian Express looks at what caused the crisis New Delhi: As a five-year-old in 2011, when her parents walked her to school, she craned her neck to try and take in the expanse of...

-The Indian Express Concealing the identity of donors in electoral bonds goes against a fundamental tenet of democracy — transparency Electoral bonds are attracting attention in the run-up to the general elections. These bonds were conceived in 2017 and the necessary legislative changes were made in the Finance Bill of 2017. For example, Section 31 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1924, was amended and a new Clause (3) was...