-The Telegraph Govt should ensure infection did not slip into green zones Some public experts, while acknowledging India’s early initiatives to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, have expressed concern about what they believe are signals of inadequate planning and poorly coordinated responses to the pandemic. The Telegraph had requested former Union health secretary Kanuru Sujatha Rao, who had spent in the health sector 20 of her 36 years as an IAS...

-The Hindu Direct human engagement is a crucial component of education India has been under lockdown in a desperate attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when the lockdown gets lifted eventually, the government may not allow large congregations in restricted physical spaces, including campuses. Universities and colleges were in the middle of the second semester of their academic year when the lockdown was enforced. There was anxiety, particularly about the graduating batches...

-The Telegraph The pandemic has given surveillance tools legitimacy in the eyes of civil society which at other times might have been more concerned about privacy issues Among the “seven” to-dos that Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed for the country on April 13 while announcing the extension of a nationwide lockdown was a call for citizens to download the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app. It would help “prevent the spread of [the] corona infection,”...

-The Telegraph Unesco and Unicef advisories carry a huge significance for India, where the lockdown has triggered efforts to promote online teaching from primary school to universities New Delhi: Two UN agencies have warned against any large-scale shift towards online education, saying it would deepen socio-economic inequalities and warning that virtual platforms can leave children vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The Unesco and Unicef advisories carry a huge significance for India, where the lockdown...

-The Indian Express Amid the lockdown, Vaishali, whose parents are construction workers, has been living out of a half-built construction site in Tilak Nagar. Mumbai: A couple of days ago, a teary-eyed Vaishali, a student of class VI at Maharashtra Aikyavardhak Mandal in Tilak Nagar, called her school teacher Sangita Patil. Amid the lockdown, Vaishali, whose parents are construction workers, has been living out of a half-built construction site in Tilak Nagar. “She...