-The Hindu The Finance Minister must move to an expansionary fiscal stance that prioritises job creation, public service provision It is that time of year in India, when all eyes and ears turn to the Finance Minister to learn what she will unveil in the annual Union Budget. But it is a moot point whether, even in a year of the novel coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, that speech will be of...

-Scroll.in India has defaulted on its international obligations by interning people in detention centres and depriving them of their right to nationality. More than a year since the final list of Assam’s National Register of Citizens was released on August 31, 2019, the government has neither formally notified it nor issued orders to reject it. This has left the 1,906,657 excluded persons and their families in a state of excruciating uncertainty. Without...

-The Hindu A group of 100 volunteers from various fields have teamed up with lawyers to arm economically and educationally weak people with knowledge about their rights against victimisation Guwahati: Aditpur has not been known for academics. But this village, about 20 km from western Assam’s Barpeta town, is teaching the Constitution of India to “doubtful” Indians who have never heard of it. Local activists and youth had on December 20 opened a...

-Newsclick.in While Covid-19 affected all areas of life, it was access to healthcare where it had the maximum effect. So inpatient admissions, outpatient care or operations saw declines of up to 40%. Declines were also seen in deliveries, antenatal care and immunisation of children. States with a large private health sector also suffered as charges were increased substantially so that profits remained unaffected. So the message is clear–give adequate budgetary allocations...

-Newsclick.in These laws denude federalism and attempt to turn a nation of farmers into an agricultural market led by big business. In 2018, the Aadhaar Act was passed as a money bill, which a dissenting judgement of the Supreme Court described as a “fraud on the Constitution”. A presidential notification amended Art. 370 of the Constitution by giving an anti-democratic interpretation to Art. 367. The Citizenship Amendment Act was brought in under...