-Livemint.com * The Centre has allowed all neighbourhood shops in the residential areas to open if they follow certain guidelines * Union home ministry added that the social distancing must be strictly maintained A month after nationwide lockdown, the Centre has allowed all neighbourhood shops in the residential areas to open if they follow certain guidelines. However, shops in market PLAces, multi-brand and single brand malls as well as market complexes located in...

-Down to Earth Communication between migrant workers, their family members has come to a standstill April 14 usually marks the traditional new year for many communities in India. This year, amid muted celebrations, the Union government launched a system to connect thousands of schools online. This when thousands of migrant workers didn’t have enough money to talk on their phones. Welcome to India’s digital divide — the new, improved post-COVID-19 lockdown version. Amid talks...

-The Hindu An opening up has to be accompanied by an increase in relief budget for the most vulnerable After a 39-day lockdown, what will be the shape of things to come? How should one strike a balance between ensuring livelihoods, minimising strife, and maintaining social distancing? In a discussion moderated by G. Ananthakrishnan, Reetika Khera, and Giridhar R. Babu examine the options. Edited excerpts: * With less than a fortnight left for...

-Scroll.in The Nobel laureate said people needed reassurance and that the administration had to be ‘proactive’ in doing so. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on Friday said India has not done “anything close to enough” to provide relief to the poor, who have been adversely impacted by the countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In an interview to BBC, Banerjee said the Indian government needs to think of a “clear,...

-Committee to Protect Journalists On March 26, two days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown to control the spreading of COVID-19, Hindi-language daily Jansandesh Times reported that a tribe in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, didn’t have enough to eat due to the sudden announcement and that children were eating grass. The same day, the magistrate of Varanasi district, Kaushal Raj Sharma, sent a legal notice to the...