-The Hindu The apex court says police should neither interfere nor take criminal action against adult and consenting sex workers In a significant order recognising sex work as a “profession” whose practitioners are entitled to dignity and equal protection under law, the Supreme Court has directed that police should neither interfere nor take criminal action against adult and consenting sex workers. “It need not be gainsaid that notwithstanding the profession, every individual in...

-The Hindu Facts do not support the argument that India has a robust system of registering births and deaths The World Health Organization (WHO)’s estimate of excess deaths due to COVID-19 in India triggered several responses. Among them was the response of several State Health Ministers, who slammed the WHO and asserted that India has a “robust, legal and transparent system for data collection and COVID mortality surveillance”. This new-found love for the...

-The Hindu Nearly 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools in 720 districts participated Nearly 80% students found learning at home during the pandemic "burdensome" and felt that they learnt better in school with help from peers, according to the government's survey of more than one lakh schools across the country. The Ministry of Education on Wednesday released its National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report, which assesses the health of the school education...

-TheWire.in The apex court issued these directions in exercise of power under Article 142 of the constitution since the Union government is yet to come up with legislation on this matter. New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed that the police should treat sex workers with dignity and should not abuse them, acknowledging that the basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to them. It further directed that the media should...

-TheWire.in A performance audit brings home the point of what happens when the national auditor is denied access to information and records. A recently concluded performance audit on the functioning of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trusts in Jharkhand has indicted the state’s Mining and Geology Department for failing to furnish the actual figures of collections from mining leaseholders. Bringing the sad state of affairs to public notice, the national auditor said, “There were...