-The Indian Express Countries more successful in curbing COVID-19 are welfare states, ruled by left-of-centre parties. There is a lesson here. A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court, seeking to remove the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Constitution. But despite a persistent erosion over the last couple of decades, both principles were central to the type of republic our political forefathers had imagined. With the embrace...

-The Indian Express "Further, as the Aayog is a public-funded body, if these claims were made without scientific backing... can be construed as misutilisation of public money, particularly in a time when every sector of the country is struggling for funding," it added. Mumbai: Over 400 scientists from across the country on Thursday endorsed an open letter to the chairman of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog, Vallabhbhai Kathiria, questioning his source of information after...

-The Hindu Analysis of NFHS-4 data finds skewed distribution of BPL cards that provide access to various welfare schemes, including food ration A first-ever study on the linkages between the availability of PDS (public distribution system) ration and the prevalence of malnutrition finds that the poorest households most in need of free food grains are often left out of the scheme. The study is authored by Basant K. Panda, Sanjay K. Mohanty, Itishree...

-Down to Earth A village in outer Delhi is sinking in wastewater overflowing from the Najafgarh drain. That’s because of construction over a wetland, which has blocked the natural water channels. Extreme rainfall has worsened the crisis If you wished to enter Raota village, on the Delhi-Haryana border in the national capital’s southwest district, you would have to wade through knee-deep wastewater. Roads there resembled a sewer; people used boats to commute. Wastewater...

-Down to Earth Study can go long way in pinpointing future hot spots for climate-induced migration Human migration due to changing climate happens primarily in middle income and agricultural-dependent countries, a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on September 14, 2020, has said. The impacts of climate change that caused migration of people were mainly changes in temperature, rainfall variability and rapid onset events like storms, cyclones and floods, the...