-The Hindu 2 companies that got ₹22 cr. advance in May later dropped from Ministry list. Two firms given purchase orders for indigenously manufactured ventilators for COVID-19 treatment funded by PM-CARES have failed a clinical evaluation by the Health Ministry’s technical committee, according to information accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The firms — Jyoti CNC Automation and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) — had already received ₹22.5 crore in advance...

-The Hindu During the same period, an amount of ₹39.68 lakh was collected in foreign currency, according to information now available on the Fund’s website The PM CARES Fund collected more than ₹3,076 crore in the first five days after it was set up, according to information now available on the Fund’s website. “During 2019-20, an amount of ₹3,076.62 crore was collected under PM CARES Fund,” says the response to a query on...

-TheNewsMinute.com Kerala has become a state fueled by a remittance economy, but the origins of this, dates back to several decades. In the summer of 1980, I visited Kerala’s Varkala in Thiruvanathapuram for the first time. It was the peak of the first Gulf boom. The media was full of stories on the ones who had made it big. But I was doing an article on the petrodollar paupers — the ignored...

-The Hindu Office cites ‘diversion of resources’ clause; former CIC Wajahat Habibullah terms it ‘misuse of Act’. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has denied a Right to Information request related to the PM-CARES Fund on the grounds that providing it would “disproportionately divert the resources of the office.” However, a High Court judgment and multiple orders of the Central Information Commission (CIC) have previously held that, under the RTI Act, this rationale...

-The Indian Express Hardline conservationists fail to see possibilities of people-wildlife coexistence The COVID-19 pandemic has driven migrant workers back to their villages, including many situated inside or on the fringes of forested areas, including sanctuaries and national parks. Even as they seek to remake livelihoods there, a new battle has emerged between the forest department (FD) and these local communities. It pertains to the declaration of a Critical Wildlife Habitat (CWH),...