-Article-14.com The arrests and continued incarceration of fact-checker Mohammad Zubair, political activist Javed Mohammed and the exoneration of 121 Adivasis accused of terrorism are the latest evidence of how the State adopts extra legal methods of dealing with ‘inconvenient citizens’—including journalists, dissidents, activists or the poorest Indians—to push official narratives of conspiracy and terrorism. The common threads: manipulation or egregious misinterpretation of laws, changing accusations, unknown or untraceable complainants and the...

-The Telegraph Unlike 2013, the pressure on the rupee will endure This month, the rupee’s weakening trend has occupied our attention. Media reports have relentlessly focused on its fall to a ‘lifetime-low’ on a daily frequency. The authorities, on their part, have centred on measures to ease the mounting pressures up on the currency. Memory of the 2013‘taper tantrum’ is fresh in minds and has spurred a series of actions to prevent...

-The Telegraph PM Modi’s Gabbar Singh Tax is the best example of his modus operandi — talk big, and when it’s time to act, make things worse: Congress Traders and shopkeepers will hold a nationwide protest next week against a hike in taxes on a range of products, including food grains and household items, and services that kicked in from Monday. “The 5 per cent goods and services tax on a range of...

-The Wire Science The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set 17 goals – from healthcare and education-based outcomes to social goals. The third of these calls on countries to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages”. One of its sub-goals aims to “end preventable deaths” of newborns and children younger than five years. This is crucial for India because some 26 million children are born every year in India;...

-UN News Billions of people are facing the greatest cost of living crisis in a generation due to rising food and energy prices amid rapid inflation and increasing debt, leaving the most vulnerable consumers in a dire situation, said the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD on Tuesday. UNCTAD’s analysis shows that a 10 per cent increase in food prices will trigger a five per cent decrease in the incomes of the...