-Hindustan Times The anti-CAA protests, the defiance of migrants, and now the farmers’ stir show that the everyday practice of democracy is a powerful corrective in the face of arbitrary and unilateral State decisions Three events defined India’s political landscape in 2020. The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the migrant labour crisis that unfolded as workers defied lockdown orders and asserted their rights, choosing to walk home in the face...

-The Hindu The Wistron incident is an example of how exploitative labour practices could accompany businesses moving to India Apple’s decision to place its Taiwanese supplier, Wistron Corp., on probation by not giving new orders — after an audit of the serious lapses in labour practices that led to violence in its facility in Narasapura in Karnataka — is a step forward in corporate accountability and ethical business operations. Pressured by Apple’s...

-The Hindu Policymakers need to focus on the larger picture with steps being taken to reclaim the space under public care India’s health care is a dark echo chamber. It is 70% private and 30% public in a country where 80% people do not have any protection for health and the out-of-pocket expense is as high as 62%. With public spending at 1.13% of GDP and a huge shortage of health-care workers...

The World Economic Outlook – a bi-annual publication of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- released in October 2020 has anticipated that the economic progress made by the countries since the 1990s to reduce poverty would be turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, economic disparity would rise too in the post-COVID world because the crisis has disproportionately impacted women, informal sector workers and people with...

-NDTV.com blog The devastation and suffering due to the Covid pandemic is unparalleled and continues to unfold in its multiple dimensions. Amidst this colossal misery in India, the most excruciatingly vivid and heart-wrenching has been the migrant crisis triggered as a consequence of a sudden lockdown. As a nation, we witnessed the unfolding of the harrowing tragedy of migrant workers, where millions of them, particularly in our metro cities, were rendered...