-IndiaSpend.com Massive job losses, up to 51% decline in earnings and reduced food intake--migrant workers struggled to survive through the recent lockdown in Gujarat, finds a study. Migrants received no relief during the second wave, and the measures taken in the last lockdown were not adequate, it shows Ahmedabad: Migrant workers were weeks from running out of food, struggled to access healthcare and faced acute livelihood problems during the partial lockdowns imposed...

-The Hindu Overregulation risks retarding growth and job creation in the e-commerce sector  Barely 11 months after the Government notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, the Department of Consumer Affairs has mooted a set of sweeping amendments, ostensibly “to protect the interests of consumers... and encourage free and fair competition in the market”. Among them is a norm stipulating the appointment of a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org Poor public infrastructure, unaffordable private medical care and limited access to the state health insurance scheme are pushing Covid patients and their families into long-term debt in Marathwada  Eight days after testing positive for Covid-19, Ramling Sanap died in the hospital where he was being treated for the infection. But it wasn’t the virus that killed him. A few hours before he died, Ramling, 40, had phoned his wife, Rajubai, from the...

-The Hindu More than 2 lakh such beneficiaries vaccinated so far. The Union Health Ministry has said that ownership of a mobile phone is not a prerequisite for COVID-19 vaccination and production of address proof for availing vaccination is not mandatory. In a release issued on Wednesday, the Ministry said it was also not mandatory to pre-register online on Co-WIN for availing vaccination. “For easy understanding of users, Co-Win is now available in 12...

-Hindustan Times The Union health ministry has still not classified the Delta plus variant as a ‘variant of concern’. Last week, NITI Aayog’s Dr VK Paul said the way forward is to watch for the variant’s potential presence in the country and take appropriate public health responses. As India continues to fight the second wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, it is also struggling to control the increasing spread of the...