-Down to Earth Less availability of meat, long-term unemployment increased instances of hunting in Tamil Nadu Wildlife hunters — seizing the opportunity provided by the nationwide Lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) — have targeted animals in Tamil Nadu’s biodiversity-rich areas. The state has a lot of biodiversity: From deciduous forests to the Western Ghats that are home to rare animals and plants. Restricted movement of transport and human...

-TheWire.in “The opening of the markets would bring no respite to us. There would be hardly any sales during the festive months due to financial doom," said a weaver in Dhaniekhali. Kolkata: Raju Singha Rao, a handloom sari weaver at Phulia in West Bengal’s Nadia district, has been having sleepless nights since the nationwide Lockdown was announced on March 24. The financial crisis coupled with thoughts of starvation and hunger has been keeping...

-ThePrint.in None of the new agri-marketing laws have anything to do with the coronavirus or the Lockdown, but were brought in by Modi govt when Parliament was shut. My friend Ajay Vir Jakhar, who runs Bharat Krishak Samaj and is currently the Chair of Punjab Farmers’ Commission, has tweeted a mischievous request asking for names and contact details of those farmer organisations that support the three “historic” ordinances passed recently for the...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court also directed state governments and Union Territories to formulate a scheme to provide employment to workers, asking that their skills be mapped. New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Centre and states to facilitate the return of migrants to their home states within 15 days, starting today. The apex court, which had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue, in its formal order said Railways...

-The Indian Express The cash crunch is hindering the state governments’ relief efforts at every step. Centre must urgently provide additional foodgrain to poorest states for expanding PDS coverage. As the monsoon advances, there is an urgent need to consider what can be done to prevent hunger during the rainy season — the hardest time of the year for poor families in large parts of rural India. The monsoon is expected to...