-The Hindu “It should result in universalisation of rations to all migrant workers during the pandemic” The Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday should result in the universalisation of rations to all migrant workers across India as long as the pandemic continues, as opposed to the government’s one-time relief measures, said intervenors in the petition. Social activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar also welcomed the Supreme Court’s direction to the government to...

-The Hindu It requires co-ordination across States and districts, based on real-time analysis of data As the focus shifts to a possible third wave, it is important for India to ask how it can marshal its resources better. Can we leverage the advantages of our size and federal character? Delhi’s experience is instructive. As the first wave abated, hospitalisation for COVID-19 patients plummeted. By January 2021, Delhi was using less than 20% of...

-The Hindu Free vaccines for everyone, Supreme Court told. The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Saturday that it will require 186 to 188 crore vaccine doses to twice inoculate the 93 to 94 crore population aged above 18 years. It said 51.6 crore doses would be “made available” by July 31. “The total population of the county aged 18 and above is 93-94 crore. Administering two doses to these beneficiaries would require an...

-Hindustan Times A primary barrier to getting women vaccinated is the limited understanding of the disparate impacts Covid-19 vaccines have on them While less than 20% of India’s adult population has received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose, clear gender disparities have arisen in the rollout. A recent analysis by Ashoka University shows that for every 100 men, around 86 women were vaccinated. This is significantly lower than India’s sex ratio of approximately...

-The Hindu Dalit-Muslim alliances are not enough; upper caste Hindus are needed too, to restore secularism Ever since the Sachar Committee Report of 2006 demonstrated that the socio-economic conditions of Muslims have worsened compared to Dalits, some have argued that Muslims have become India’s new Dalits. It is further proposed that the two communities should forge an alliance to fight the Hindu Right to restore secularism because together they constitute a significant...