-Down to Earth Blaming farmers alone won’t work; prices for crops other than paddy must be remunerative The Election Commission has announced the dates for Assembly elections in five states of the country including Punjab. The atmosphere regarding the Assembly elections is getting more and more dramatic every day. As in many previous Assembly elections, promises, claims and new promises are being made and repeated by the various political parties to win...

-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...

-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...

-Hindustan Times The BJP, on the other hand, has always claimed that Mandal-based parties such as the SP have only helped their own causes (for instance, the Yadavs in both Bihar and UP) in the name of social emancipation after capturing power. The Uttar Pradesh elections seem to be resurrecting the past memories of Mandal versus Kamandal contest only at the level of polemics. After chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)...

-Newsclick.in The poll-bound state ranked the worst in institutional deliveries both in 2014-15 and 2019-20. Lucknow: With less than three months left for the Assembly elections, the Yogi Adityanath government has received some less than flattering news with Uttar Pradesh (UP) once again figuring at the bottom of 19 large states and Left-rule Kerala emerging as the state with the best overall health performance for the fourth consecutive year on the fourth...