-Sabrang India/ Newsclick.in An audit by CAG blame poor infrastructure, insufficient inspections, irregular licensing and limited reporting. The Hindu reports that as schools re-opened and students returned to the classroom -two years after the pandemic -- serious cases of food poisoning due to the consumption of mid-day meals have resurfaced, and even grown. In the last 90 days alone as many as 120  students suffered from food poisoning across schools in Karnataka,...

-Junputh.com Public Release of ‘Impact of Hijab Ban in Karnataka’s Educational Institutions: An Interim Study Report’ by People’s Union for Civil Liberties – Karnataka (PUCL – K) In December, 2021, the Government PU College in Udupi, Karnataka prohibited six girls from attending classes after they came to the institution wearing the hijab. Similar restrictions began to be placed in other institutions in various districts and the issue soon escalated across college campuses...

-Newslaundry.com The city is woefully ill-prepared, despite thousands of crores spent and warnings that went unheeded. Last week, Bengaluru was battered by rains that were unprecedented in scale and floods that were disastrous in impact. While the rains have abated, thousands living on the periphery of the Bellandur-Varthur lakes in east Bengaluru are still gripped by fear, worried that deliberately narrowed drains, encroachment of wetlands, and state apathy could trigger another round...

-Down to Earth 29% increase in suicides by farm labourers from 2019  The National Crime Record Bureau has released an alarming statistic. An agricultural labourer died by suicide every two hours and a total 1,64,033 people died of suicide in India in 2021. The number amounts to 5,563 suicides by farm labourers, which is a 9 per cent increase from 2020 and a 29 per cent increase from 2019. The highest numbers were recorded...

-Down to Earth So far livestock-related schemes were only catering to settled farmers, herders The Union government admitted that India’s pastoralist communities fell through the cracks when it comes to them benefitting from various schemes. It has urged states with sizeable population of such communities to work to prevent this. There is a significant population of pastoralists or cattle herders across India who move from one place to another to graze their animals....