-The Telegraph The state’s expert advisers assert that the earlier lower counts were not deliberate but the outcome of a lack of clear definition of Covid-19 deaths Bangalore: A paradoxical rise in Kerala’s Covid-19 mortality rate despite a shrinking epidemic ahead of omicron’s emergence reflects diligent death auditing under political pressure, public demand and good record-keeping lacking in other states, health experts have said. The auditing efforts had till Monday added over 16,900...

-The Hindu It is astonishing that public expenditure data on the education sector are not easily available In the current Budget session, how much money the Central and State Governments will allocate to education and for what purpose should be a matter of public concern and debate. Even before the pandemic, public spending on education in most States was below that of other middle-income countries. Most major States spent in the range...

-The Telegraph Both the victims were admitted to the Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital, Baripada A case has been registered against Union minister Bishweswar Tudu for allegedly beating up two Odisha government officials, of whom one suffered a fracture. The incident took place at Baripada in Mayurbhanj district on Friday afternoon and the FIR was lodged late  evening. Both the officials were admitted to the Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and...

-The New Indian Express The tree lover has planted over one crore saplings and trees across the State, apart from distributing lakhs of saplings which he grows on his land. KHAMMAM: The Telangana government had permitted Daripalli  Ramaiah to sell red sandalwood, but the environmentalist and Padma Shri awardee chose to donate 20 tonnes of the precious wood for the State’s Haritha Nidhi programme. The tree lover has planted over one crore saplings...

-Newsclick.in Caste and religious divisions within 32% SC population of Punjab – 39 castes over 5 religions -- over the years have precluded them from developing their own distinct and viable state-level leadership. The postponement of Punjab Assembly elections on account of Guru Ravidass Jayanti on February 16,  is a clear indication of the reinforcement of the SC’s identity in the state, which has the highest percentage of SC population (31.94%) in...