-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...

-Article-14.com One of the issues that brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power in 2014 was corruption, the antidote to which was to be a Lokpal, a public ombudsman. His government reluctantly set it up only five years later, after a Supreme Court order. In 2021, it received no more than 30 complaints, with critical posts of inquiry and prosecution chiefs vacant, a third of its budget unused and a former...

-TheWire.in One report suggests that Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh are also underreporting deaths due to COVID-19 Bengaluru: In a strange turn of events, the Gujarat state government informed the Supreme Court on January 16 that it has approved 68,370 claims for ex gratia for COVID-19 victims – while the state’s official cumulative death toll was only 10,094 until then. According to Times of India, the state wrote in its compliance report...

-Down to Earth Most of the victims were targeted for “causing health issues or crop failure” Witch-hunts are still highly prevalent in 12 of Odisha’s 30 districts — especially Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam — a new report has claimed. Most victims of such superstitious practices were targeted for “causing health issues or crop failure”. Around 27 per cent cases were triggered by health issues in children, 43.5 per cent by...

-FactChecker.in While Zero Budget Natural Farming promotes chemical-free agricultural practices, data regarding the method's effectiveness still insufficient Zero Budget Natural Farming has been on the government's agenda, which got another push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 14, 2021. While addressing an event marking the 98th anniversary celebration of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi, Modi said Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) should become a mass movement and people should...