-Down to Earth Bihar usually gets heavy rains in July and August; floods in June are an unusual occurrence, experts said Several villages have been flooded after 3-4 days of early monsoon rains in the catchment areas of the Gandak and Burhi Gandak rivers in Nepal and north Bihar. Affected districts include West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj and Muzaffarpur. Other rivers including the Bagmati, Koshi, Kamla Balan, Bhuthi Balan and Ghaghara are also...

-The Hindu NGO Arappor Iyakkam has claimed the number of COVID-19 related deaths is likely to be over eight times higher than the number given by the State government Chennai: As against the declared number of 863 deaths due to COVID-19 in six government hospitals during April and May, the actual number of COVID-19 related deaths is likely to be 13.6 times higher for these six hospitals, indicating under-reporting of deaths in...

-Outlook India A comparison of deaths in April-May before and during the pandemic has raised doubts whether Madhya Pradesh government is undercounting Covid deaths After Bihar drastically revised its Covid death tally on Thursday and admitted huge difference in its earlier data, now reports have pointed at under-counting of fatalities in Madhya Pradesh. A comparison of deaths in April-May period before and during the pandemic has raised doubts whether Madhya Pradesh government is...

-Counterview.net A civil society statement, prepared for endorsement from workers’ organisations and concerned citizens by senior economists Amit Basole, Babu Mathews, Gautam Bhan, Jean Dreze, Rajendran Narayan and Ravi Srivastava after several rounds of discussion with trade unions, lawyers and grassroots organisation, has insisted that the Government of India come up with a national relief and recovery package immediately. “Without the direct support of such a package, simply unlocking the economy will...

-The Hindu It is to assess Budget benefits for SC/STs, Rural Development Secretary says. The decision to split MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) wage payments by caste categories was done on the advice of the Finance Ministry in order to assess and highlight the benefits flowing from budgetary outlay towards Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Rural Development Secretary N.N. Sinha told The Hindu on Thursday. He said this should...