-The Hindu Blaming ‘the system’ alone for Father Stan Swamy’s death obscures how India’s political economy is linked to deprival When an officer from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) came to interrogate Father Stan Swamy last monsoon, the Jesuit sociologist, then 83, in turn asked him about police integrity, and why a father-son duo (P. Jayaraj and Bennicks) should die of custodial torture in a Tamil Nadu police lock-up. It was quintessential...

-TheWire.in Every sanitation worker’s life in India is a nightmare on any ordinary day. Add to this the callousness of administrations leaving them to face the virus without gear and TRAIning and the result is pure hell. Bokaro (Jharkhand): As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic tightens its grip on the country, the Chas Municipal Corporation in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district appears to have learned a few things from the last time...

-The Hindu Paediatric wards connected to central oxygen pipeline in view of third wave warnings The tribal-dominated Banswara district in southern Rajasthan has taken the lead in creating first-of-its-kind paediatric COVID-19 care facility as part of preparations for a possible third wave of infection. Beautified with colourful drawings and cartoons depicted on the walls, the dedicated wards will cater to children with different stages of coronavirus infection. The district administration identified the buildings...

-The Hindu No extra funds, money coming from Samagra Shiksha’s 20% lower budget The Centre’s new mission to ensure that every Class 3 child has foundational literacy and numeracy within five years will be rolled out on Monday. Although the National Education Policy had included a 2025 deadline to achieve the goal, the Centre has pushed back the target date to 2026-27, given that COVID-19 has already disrupted two academic years. The School...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...