-The Hindu The resultant distress in India has exacerbated pre-existing structures of disadvantage based on social identity In his book, The Great Leveler, Walter Scheidel, the Austrian economic historian, argues that throughout human history, there have been four types of catastrophic events that have led to greater economic equality: pandemic, war, revolution and state collapse. Currently, the world is going through one of them: a massive COVID-19 pandemic. In Scheidel’s analysis, the...

-The Hindu Addressing poverty is the key to improving the health and nutritional status of mothers and their infants From the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, the PRIme Minister declared that the government is considering raising the legal age of marriage for girls, which is currently 18 years. He said, “We have formed a committee to ensure that daughters are no longer suffering from malnutrition and they are married...

-The Hindu 2 companies that got ₹22 cr. advance in May later dropped from Ministry list. Two firms given purchase orders for indigenously manufactured ventilators for COVID-19 treatment funded by PM-CARES have failed a clinical evaluation by the Health Ministry’s technical committee, according to information accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The firms — Jyoti CNC Automation and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) — had already received ₹22.5 crore in advance...

-The Indian Express According to the survey, about 28 per cent of a total of 35,000 students, teachers, PRIncipals and parents cited intermittent and lack of power as a major hindrance. ABOUT 27 per cent of students don’t have smartphones and laptops to access online classes amid the Covid school shutdown. But among those who do, most find online learning either “joyful” or “satisfactory”, although mathematics and science are the toughest to...

-Livemint.com * As consumers bear the brunt of high food costs, growers see no benefit. How long will this strange dynamic last? * Many lower income consumers are also not enrolled under the federal food security scheme. An estimate suggests that over 100 million eligible Indians are excluded Ramesh Pangal calls it a season of miseries: Farmers running around with vegetables to find a buyer; leaving tomatoes to rot in the field; dumping...