-NDTV "UP is blithely undermining that very Constitution..." the letter's signatories said, pointing to high court rulings that said choosing a life partner was a "fundamental right" New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government's controversial anti-conversion ordinance has transformed the state into "the epicentre of politics of hate, division and bigotry", a letter signed by 104 former IAS officers, including former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and former...

-Hindustan Times The note, which has been reviewed by HT, paints a grim picture of the global economy going forward, does not rule out something like the Great Depression of the 1930s, and sees a rise in poverty, unemployment and debt. The Covid-19 pandemic will transform the global economic order for worse, with a “market subverting” China emerging as the alternative pole to the US, says a background note of the Niti...

-Newsclick.in The move is aimed at helping corporate biggies that have recently forayed into the commercial coal mining sector. New Delhi: In yet another attempt to help corporate biggies that have recently forayed into commercial coal mining, the Narendra Modi government has tweaked an environmental law to allow extraction of combustible mineral even before obtaining final forest clearance. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change...

-Hindustan Times Floods, cyclones, colder winter, unexpected rains, India has seen them all. 2020 has been strange and difficult in so many ways that it seems almost criminal to add one more to the mix — the weather. Floods, cyclones, colder winter, unexpected rains, India has seen them all. High rainfall at a time when rainfall is declining India received a total of 1,286.6mm rainfall until December 27 this year. This is the ninth...

-Newsclick.in Eradication of the APMC-regulated mandi system and the entry of private players led the farming community to losing a favourable marketplace. Farmers were left with no option but to sell their produce to private procurers at throwaway prices. New Delhi: The nationwide protests against the three contentious Farm Laws enacted by the Centre has brought Bihar into focus. It is a state where new regulations for agricultural produce and its storage,...