-Newsclick.in After the Union Government announced a mission to explore mining the Indian ocean floor for rare earth minerals in this year’s budget, environment conservationists and oceanographers in India are joining global calls for a moratorium on deep sea mining. April 9, Bengaluru: Indian activists have joined worldwide environment conservationists and oceanographers in opposing the recently announced Deep Ocean Mission by the Government of India. The Mineral Inheritors Rights Association (MIRA) – an...

-The Hindu Notes several instances of govt pressure on media outlets Washington DC: In its 2020 Human Rights Report, the U.S. State Department said the harassment and detention of journalists critical of the (Indian) government in their reporting and on social media, has continued, although the government generally respected the freedom of expression. It also said government’s requests for user data from Internet companies had increased “dramatically.” The report, which is submitted each...

-The Hindu The political emphasis on welfare interventions is insufficient to address the emerging developmental issues in the State A major concern in contemporary Indian development is the widening socio-economic disparity across groups and regions. Even when regions perform relatively better in one developmental dimension, it does not often translate into all round development. For instance, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala might have attained better levels of human development but that has not...

-The Hindu The resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ was however adopted after 22 member states of the 47-member Council voted in its favour.   India on Tuesday abstained from a crucial vote on Sri Lanka’s rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ was, however, adopted after 22 states of the 47-member...

-The Indian Express The state must prioritise removing malnutrition, give uncompromising priority to improving primary health infrastructure In 1947, post-colonial India set off with the ambition of building a modern state on the principles of equality where citizens, by virtue of their birth in the country, would be entitled to a life of dignity. While the Constitution provided the rights to life, liberty, nutritional standards and maternity care, it did not explicitly...