-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...

-The Hindu Samyukt Kisan Morcha says it will not fight the elections. Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections due early in 2022, 22 of the 32 Punjab-based farmer unions that were at the forefront of the agitation against the now repealed farm laws announced on Saturday that they would contest the election under the banner of ‘Samyukt Samaj Morcha’ even as the the umbrella body Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) that spearheaded the...

-Newsclick.in There are too many reasons why people, especially farmers, are angry with the Yogi-Modi ‘double engine’ government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that his government will repeal the three farm laws came with just a few months left for crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, which were crucibles of the year-long farmers’ struggle against these notorious laws. It is but natural that the connection between the announcement and the...