-The Indian Express The report, which comprised approximately 73 per cent males and 27 per cent females, showed that over "73 per cent of those interviewed were facing severe challenges on account of the lockdown". Considering the numerous challenges that Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) have been facing during lockdown, a recent survey recommends enforcing the March 27, 2020 Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) guidelines for securing financial support to...

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in China during early January this year and its dissemination globally within a few days, health experts have suggested ways to check its spread exponentially among the rest of the population. In the age of internet connectivity, work-from-home and self-isolation have been advised as solutions to ensure social distancing and avoid large-scale social gatherings. Experts have asked governments and private enterprises to keep people at...

-The Times of India The middle class that led India’s nation-building project has now embraced a nationalism that has no place for diversity The “Idea of India” has always been grander in promise than in fulfilment. At Independence, the dream was that the people of a country of so much diversity — in language, religion, and tradition — would enjoy constitutionally guaranteed rights and through democratic means, build a just society. A...

-The Hindu What the draft National Education Policy omits in its chapter on early childhood care and education The draft National Education Policy starts its opening sentence with a hitherto little-known fact: “The learning process for a child commences immediately at birth.” Many believe that children start learning only in school. It is true that language and numerical proficiency, and analytical skills, are attained in school, but the foundation for such a...

-The Hindu Trend is towards control of content The production of media content and its distribution are becoming increasingly combined and concentrated in the hands of a few, finds the Media Ownership Monitor (MOM), a research project carried out in India over the past six months by Reporters Without Borders and the Delhi-based digital media company DataLEADS. The study, presented in Delhi on Wednesday, also assesses the media space as a narrow one,...