-The Hindu While national leaders can provide support, the ground work needs to be done by local leaders with a mass base and sustained presence in local politics Even as the nation battles the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assembly elections have been completed in four States (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal) and one Union Territory (Puducherry). Though citizens and governments came to be exposed to the debilitating impact...

-Newsclick.in According to CMIE data, the national unemployment rate in April registered a four-month high of 7.97% – with urban and rural joblessness at 9.78% and 7.13% respectively – as against the previous month’s figure of 6.50%. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has sent the pandemic spiralling anew in the country, with its impact visible not just on the already strained healthcare infrastructure but also on the economic front – particularly...

-Leaflet.in/ Newsclick.in The Supreme Court, in an order released on Sunday evening, directed the Central Government to ensure that the deficit in the supply of oxygen to the national capital is rectified within two days. It also directed the Centre to prepare, in collaboration with the states, a buffer stock of oxygen for emergency purposes and decentralize the location of the emergency stocks. “The emergency stocks shall be created within the next four...

-The Indian Express International TV channels have run visuals of waiting ambulances and patients outside hospitals, and cremations to underline India's lack of preparedness. Mumbai: In a virtual meeting with Indian ambassadors and high commissioners Posted across the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed the message that the “one-sided” narrative in international media — that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government had failed the country by their “incompetent”...

-Article-14.com As India faces a catastrophic second wave and the government is largely prominent by its absence, thousands of ordinary citizens are stepping up to help with information, oxygen, hospital beds, crematoria and even performing last rites, regardless of religion. New Delhi: Ifrah Fatima, 26, an MBBS graduate in Hyderabad was “doomscrolling Twitter” on 18 April, feeling “utterly helpless” about India’s Covid-19 emergency, when an idea struck her. She Posted on Instagram,...