-Down to Earth West Bengal, along with Bangladesh, received two million on-ground lightning bolts The region of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable in South Asia to lethal lightning strikes, according to a recent report. West Bengal received the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometer in 2020, followed by Jharkhand, according to South Asia lightning Report ,2020 by Earth Networks, a global weather intelligence agency. The company’s...
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Population populism: UP draft population bill will impact the vulnerable, especially women -Poonam Muttreja
-Down to Earth The focus must be on safeguarding women and girls’ reproductive health. Smaller families can be achieved by ensuring gender equality, empowering women The law proposed by the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission on July 7, 2021 on two-child policy compels couples to limit their families through a series of incentives and disincentives. There is no evidence, however, that coercive policies can truly reduce fertility. Two-child policies are known to disproportionately impact...
More »Himachal Pradesh ‘excess deaths’ twice the official COVID-19 toll -SRInivasan Ramani
-The Hindu State registers the lowest undercount factor in north India The number of “excess deaths” registered by the Civil Registration System (CRS) in Himachal Pradesh ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit (from April 2020 to May 2021) was 6,081, which is 1.9 times the official reported figure of 3,127 COVID-19 deaths for the same period. This multiple is among the lowest for States for which excess deaths have been calculated. Interestingly, while...
More »‘Excess deaths’ in Haryana seven times official COVID-19 toll -SRInivasan Ramani
-The Hindu The undercount factor was moderate compared with States such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh The number of “excess deaths” registered by the Civil Registration System (CRS) in Haryana ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit (from April 2020 to May 2021) was 60,397, which is 7.3 times the official reported figure of 8,303 COVID-19 deaths for the same period. This high number was largely due to the deaths registered in April...
More »Modi government's decision to privatise United India Insurance indicates terrible consequences for general insurance sector -V SRIdhar
-Frontline.TheHindu.com THE Narendra Modi government’s penchant for indulging in ambushes as a means of unleashing policies is now all too obvious. Policies whether relating to vaccines or privatisation of key economic entities have been marked by bizarre U-turns, abrupt changes or abandonment of previously announced approaches. The idea of policies seems to be to instil shock and awe, logic and rectitude be damned. A striking case in point is the government’s...
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