-Down to Earth Ranthambhore tigers, Chambal gharials and a host of other species could be in trouble due to the clearance given to the highway proposals The Union government has approved forest land diversion for three highway proposals in Rajasthan’s Ranthambhore and Mukundara Tiger Reserves, disregarding the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)’s views, a Right to Information (RTI) application by Down To Earth has revealed. The proposals were approved October 5 last year...

-Livemint.com * A ground report reveals pervasive hunger and undernourishment in rural India awash with returning migrants * Just providing rice and wheat at a highly subsidized price may not be enough when day jobs are scant and families have no cash in hand Banda: Thanks to an all-familiar power cut in the evening, it’s pitch dark in Jhandupurva village. A few torch lights from smart phones pierce through the darkness and illuminate...

A recent survey conducted by National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) -- a Delhi-based non-profit organisation -- shows how persons with disabilities in the country were disproportionately affected by the COVID–19 crisis. The report by NCPEDP has observed that persons with disabilities, particularly those from economically deprived sections, went through severe hardship during the lockdown. Without sufficient access to food or money, many of them faced hunger...

-Livemint.com The list of PDS beneficiaries has not been updated for over five years and excludes many children and women NEW DELHI : It’s well past lunch hour, but 50-year-old Bitaiya is yet to step into her kitchen. Her meagre supply of wheat flour was scraped clean the night before. So, whether she—a daily wage earner whose husband died of tuberculosis a few years ago—and her two children, seven- and 16-year olds,...

-Livemint.com * One fallout of the containment measures is that children have to do without the guaranteed school meal * Anganwadi workers have been directed to anganwadi centres only to receive take-home ration NEW DELHI: Unaware of the covid-19 pandemic, four-year-old Jamuni, a malnourished girl in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, is worried that her primary school has been closed for the last 20 days. Her worry revolves around missing the mid-day meals...