-CaravanMagazine.in On 17 May, for the third time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Narendra Modi administration extended India’s Lockdown—one of the harshest across the world. For the third time, the Indian government did so without seeking scientific inputs from a national task force constituted to advise the central government on its pandemic response, according to multiple members of the team of scientists. There was a consensus among members we spoke...

-Business Standard Trade unions slam decision, employers welcome it, saying it was absolutely necessary especially in absence of grants from govt to industry for wage payment  In what may come as a major relief to businesses, the Union government has withdrawn its order directing employers to pay wages to workers, even with units remaining shut during Lockdown. On Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued a fresh set of guidelines which...

-The Indian Express The bench asked the Delhi government to immediately ensure that food grains are distributed to poor, needy and marginalised non-PDS residents from Public Distribution System (PDS). The Delhi High Court Monday expressed anguish over the failure on part of the Delhi government in implementing its previous “clear cut” directions that “no citizen currently residing in Delhi should go hungry”. “We express our disappointment and dismay,” a bench of Justice Siddharth...

-The Hindu Police brutality, a colonial legacy, has tenaciously clung on to the mantle of law enforcement personnel On April 16, Mohammed Rizwan, 19, a resident of Chhajjapur village, Uttar Pradesh, ventured out of his home to buy biscuits. He was beaten with rifle butts and lathis by the police, while other residents purchased their groceries from the shop. In a battered condition, he managed to reach home. After some home remedies...

-The Hindu By suspending labour laws, states are exploiting the unique opportunity provided by the national Lockdown As India slowly attempts to lift its nationwide Lockdown, under compulsion of reviving the economy, labour rights are disappearing at an astonishing pace. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, which are States ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, took the lead in suspending crucial labour laws for varying lengths of time. Undemocratic introduction This strategy visualises effecting...