KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

On 6 February, 2023 Southern Turkey and the adjoining areas in Syria were hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake followed by several aftershocks. The tremors have flattened buildings and destroyed roads and other infrastructure. At least 35,000 casualties (UPDATE) have occurred across Turkey and Syria, with the vast majority being in the former nation. A news report cited the Turkish environment minister saying that 24,921 buildings across the region had collapsed. What...

Editorial team, Carbon Copy  Ongoing shifts in rainfall and temperature caused by climate change are likely to increase the debt burden faced by rural households, particularly of marginalised groups in dry areas, an editorial in Carbon Copy magazine said. The piece cited a study in the journal Climate Change that argues that changes in climate, along with existing socio-economic differences - caste and landholding in particular — will deepen the size...

-Hindustan Times The Himachal Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking for a refund of the money deposited for the New Pension Scheme, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced on Wednesday. Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking for a refund of the money deposited for the New Pension Scheme (NPS), chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced on Wednesday, moving another step closer to fulfilling the poll...

-Hindustan Times Cold wave: A warning of severe cold conditions over the next few days has been issued for north Rajasthan, and till Monday in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi: As the holiday season sets in, biting cold has gripped north India. According to the India Meteorological Department, cold wave conditions were on Sunday observed in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and northwest Rajasthan. Dense fog shrouded many...