-Scroll.in Unless the Centre and states act swiftly, the humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen. As India witnesses a record-breaking surge of Covid-19 cases, the Central and state governments have been scrambling to find appropriate responses to handle this health crisis. At a time when the healthcare system is severely strained, many state governments not surprisingly have employed public health or non-pharmaceutical interventions to control the spread of the disease. These interventions...

-Press release by United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner GENEVA (16 July 2021): UN human rights experts* today called on India to halt evictions of some 100,000 people – including 20,000 children – that began this week in the midst of monsoon rains. Demolition of homes began on Wednesday, 14 July, in a village in Haryana State built on protected forest land, even though the forest was actually destroyed...

-The Hindu A simple reading of U.P.’s draft population control law is that it will grossly impinge on the right to reproductive freedom On Sunday, the government of Uttar Pradesh released a “Population Policy” in which it stated its intention to bring the gross fertility rate in the State down from the existing 2.7 to 2.1 by 2026. To achieve this, the government says it will consider the enactment of a new...

-Down to Earth Shoreline armouring can increase damages by $723 million for a single flood event Sea-level rise due to climate change has threatened millions of lives and exacerbated infrastructure costs in building embankments and seawalls. These flood-protection constructions, however, heighten the risks of flooding and cost greater financial damages, according to a new report. "Protection of individual shoreline segments (5 to 75 kilometres) can increase flooding in other areas by as much...

-The Tribune The Centre on Wednesday advised the states and Union Territories (UTs) to direct police stations in their respective jurisdictions to “immediately withdraw the cases registered under the repealed-Section 66A of the Information Technology Act”. The directive came days after the Supreme Court expressed shock that the law was being invoked even six years after it was struck down by the apex court. In its advisory, the Union Ministry of Home...