-The Hindu Nationalism is not going to solve the big problems, says the economist. If the catastrophic human toll of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was the first wave to strike the world this year, its severe economic consequences &NDAsh; including loss of livelihoods of the poor across countries, leading to massive internal displacement and starvation in many cases &NDAsh; have been the second wave. It is in this context that the seminal work...
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Once Derided by Modi, Boost to MGNREGS Shows it's One of Rural India's Few Safety Nets -Kabir Agarwal
-TheWire.in The increased allocation is welcome, but experts say the government should also work to solve pending liability issues and other techno-bureaucratic problems that hold back its effectiveness. New Delhi: On SuNDAy, while announcing the fifth and final tranche of the Centre’s COVID-19 economic relief package, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will be allocating an additional Rs 40,000 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). “It...
More »Centre Opts for Long-Term Agricultural Reforms, Leaving Farmers ‘Atmanirbhar’ in Crisis -Kabir Agarwal
-TheWire.in The government has failed to provide compensation and relief to farmers for the losses suffered during the lockdown, primarily because it lacks the fiscal space. New Delhi: On Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman held her third press conference in as many days to follow up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of a Rs 20 lakh crore financial stimulus package. After focussing on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and migrant...
More »Rescripting north-east Delhi riots -- and the question of justice -Vikas Kumar and Radhika Chitkara
-The Hindu While police seek to project a ‘conspiracy’ behind the riots, all FIRs pertaining to the violence must be opened to public scrutiny Arshad Alam, Amaan Iqbal, Deepak Kumar, Mohammad Hamza and many others were killed in communal riots that convulsed north-east Delhi in late February 2020. Many more were injured, or victims of arson. The Home Minister stated on March 11 that “over 700 FIRs” had been filed. Yet about 80...
More »Contact Tracing, Location Data Markets and the Perils of Being Tracked -Anurag Mehra
-TheWire.in Why do some COVID apps prefer to shun location tracking altogether and some don't? The mobile phone seems to be an important weapon in the fight against COVID-19. Phone apps that track location &NDAsh; basically, latitude, longitude at a specific time &NDAsh; and send this information to health authorities live are being deployed to ensure that phone owners remain within quarantine zones. A different use simply records the location trail over a...
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