-The Hindu Multiple super spreader events happening in schools, colleges, offices, public transport. The second surge of COVID-19 puts children and younger adults at high risk with the situation being very grim especially in rural and tribal areas which were spared in the first wave, warn experts even as the country has been witnessing a steady rise in cases and with the government on Thursday opening up vaccination to all persons 45...

-Down to Earth Gaps in data on women and girls particularly severe; countries do not invest enough in public intent data systems, the report said Most countries have shied away from an open-data policy — more so countries with developing economies, according to a recent World Bank report. Only 11 per cent low-income countries consistently made available with a license classifiable as ’open’, the report flagged. The comparable rate for lower-middle-income countries was...

When a massive sum of public money is spent on a programme like Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA)--a demand-driven programme, there is likelihood of financial misappropriations and mismanagement. Thankfully there are checks and balances in the rural employment guarantee legislation to counter such malpractices. It is worth noting that the total allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) for 2020-21 was Rs. 1,11,500.00 crore (R.E.), up...

-The Hindu/ PTI Online education is not an option for all as only one in four children has access to digital devices and Internet connectivity, the study says. Closure of 1.5 million schools due to coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdowns in 2020 impacted 247 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in India, a UNICEF report has found.  Globally, schools for more than 168 million children have been completely closed for...

-The Hindu Focus on severe ailments, combination of diseases excluding many: experts The Union Health Ministry’s list of 20 comorbidities that make people in the 45-59 year age group eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine is seen by some medical professionals as too narrow. “The list of comorbidities provided by the Health Ministry is overly restrictive and complicated. Many conditions, including obesity, have been left out,” said Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at...