-The Hindu QuaranTeen Warmline, a peer-to-peer support helpline, is a safe space for teenagers to discuss their problems amid the pandemic Tara Dave spends every evening on phone calls. Not surprising for a 17-year-old, but what is unusual is that every day, she speaks to children across the country, as part of QuaranTeen Warmline, a peer-to-peer support helpline, exclusively for teenagers aged 15 to 18, that she helms. “Many hotlines have come up...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org Huge quantities of cash crops lie unsold across India – like cotton in Maharashtra. A hunger crisis looms, yet farmers in Vidarbha plan to sow cotton, not food crops, once again this kharif season Seventy-year-old Kisan Sakhru Pawar, patriarch of a joint farming family in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, is very anxious. The climbing Covid-19 graph is not the main reason for his anxiety. His concern: unsold cotton. “We have 350 quintals of cotton,...

-Outlook India While nationwide lockdown is unavoidable and is a wise decision to contain the spread of the virus, there is a need to address the possibility of an unintended baby boom among poor and vulnerable groups. With most countries following nationwide lockdown or stay at home orders due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, there has been a debate on a possible unintended baby boom across the world. Although many demographers from...

-The Hindu Direct human engagement is a crucial component of education India has been under lockdown in a desperate attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when the lockdown gets lifted eventually, the government may not allow large congregations in restricted physical spaces, including campuses. Universities and colleges were in the middle of the second semester of their academic year when the lockdown was enforced. There was anxiety, particularly about the graduating batches...

-VillageSquare.in With lack of access to authentic information, myths and fears proliferate. Health workers counsel communities over phone, addressing their anxieties about the disease and the returned migrants As COVID-19 grips the entire world in its talons and affects communities across geographies, ethnicities, caste and class, a wave of misinformation is spreading, sparking fear. This wave seems to have overtaken the outbreak, and poses a threat that may be more harmful than...