-Newslaundry.com The government has sold coal blocks for far cheaper prices than they fetched five years ago. In 2015, the Narendra Modi government auctioned two coal blocks in Chhattisgarh. Gare Palma IV/1 fetched a bid of Rs 1,585 per tonne while Gare Palma IV/7 was auctioned for Rs 2,619. The bid for the first block was too low, the government claimed amid allegations of cartelisation, and cancelled it. In case of the...

-TheWire.in A little surprised at the security measures, a farmer from Karnataka said the Jantar Mantar protest site seemed 'Emergency-esque' and resembled the border with Pakistan. New Delhi: It was about noon, when the brown dogs began to growl. Long hours of waiting, three “security checks” and a sultry sun made mediapersons slightly edgy, but the ‘Kisan Sansad’ was not in session yet. My eyes drifted to the red sundial across the...

-TheWire.in/ PARI In Bihar's villages, during the lockdown last year, teenage girls were married off to young male migrant workers who returned home. Many are now pregnant and anxious about what comes next. Both are 17, both are pregnant. Both of them collapse easily into giggles, sometimes forgetting parental instructions to keep their gaze down. And both are terrified of what comes next. Salima Parveen and Asma Khatun (names changed) were both in...

-The New Indian Express An analysis by The New Indian Express shows that it is not just petrol and diesel prices that are scalding you. Prices of edible oil, tea, and pulses have seen a double-digit growth in the last year. When the April 2021 retail inflation came down to a modest 4.29%, an attempt might have been made to communicate a false sense of relief. The real picture, though, is very...

-TheThirdPole.net A response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative has to contend with a history of authoritarian, carbon-heavy development that both China and its opponents have pursued In a phone call to the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 26 March, US President Joe Biden said that “democratic countries should have an infrastructure plan to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative”. This statement has been the focus of intense scrutiny in Central...