-The Hindu Business Line NTPC has fast-tracked the procedure for disbursal of compensation to “the immediate families of those who lost their lives in the natural disaster” that struck its under-construction Tapovan Vishnugad hydroelectric project in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on February 7. NTPC is extending a compensation of ₹20 lakh to the immediate family of the contract labourers of the agency engaged in construction of NTPC project, the firm said in...

-The Hindu The legal regime that enables the government to block websites needs urgent reform On February 1, 2021, in the wake of the intensification of the farmers’ protests and reports of violent incidents on January 26 – a number of Twitter accounts became inaccessible in India. These included (among many others) the accounts of The Caravan magazine, the actor Sushant Singh, and the Kisan Ekta Morcha handle, which was chronicling the...

-The Indian Express Uttarakhand CM sent letter to PM on jobs, energy security; SC awaits Govt unified stand. At least two power projects hit by the glacial flood burst in Uttarakhand last Sunday — in which over 150 workers are still feared missing or trapped — were in a list of 13 flagged at a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office exactly two years ago. That meeting, records show, ordered a permanent ban...

-The Indian Express Governments past and present have used a colonial-era law to charge many ‘seditious’ men and women, most recently during the farmer protests, when a series of cases were filed against journalists and politicians. The Central Hall of Parliament doubles up as a portrait gallery. On its walls hang portraits of leaders who shaped the destiny of India. If a viceroy from British India were to walk into the hall...

-The Hindu “Only implementation of strategies is being monitored, rather than actual outcomes” New Delhi: In the last year of its mission to double farmers income, the Centre admits that no actual assessment of farm income has been carried out since 2013. Ashok Dalwai, head of the committee on doubling farmers income, told The Hindu that only the implementation of strategies is being monitored, rather than actual outcomes. He cautioned that the impact...