-Hindustan Times By effectively insulating employers from paying wages to workers, it has reinforced an unequal power dynamic The coronavirus pandemic — and the measures taken by the central and state governments to contain it over the last five months — has led to widespread disruption across the country. A substantial part of this disruption is asymmetric in nature; that is, it has disproportionately affected vulnerable and marginalised people, those unable to...

-Hindustan Times Digital divide: Students who, in theory, have access to e-teaching will have to depend on inconvenient methods such as mobile The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the education sector globally. Classes have been suspended to enforce social distancing and educational institutions, from schools to universities, have shifted to online methods of teaching and evaluation. As the number of cases continues to rise, there is no certainty about when normalcy will be...

-Hindustan Times Diesel-run generators used for irrigation not only burnt a hole in their pockets but were also an environmental concern Chandigarh: Solar-powered water pumps have come as a ray of hope for tribal farmers of the remote Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh that otherwise offers limited livelihood options due to the harsh climate and inhospitable terrain. The cultivated fields in the valley are situated along nullahs and the Spiti river and many...

-Hindustan Times On Sunday too, rains lashed many parts of Kerala amid weather forecasts of extremely heavy rainfall in six districts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Alappuzha districts. The death toll in the landslide at a tea estate in Rajamalai in Idukki district of Kerala rose to 49 on Monday after six more bodies were recovered,...

-Hindustan Times They own many educational institutions. To preserve their patronage network, they will resist reforms The New Education Policy (NEP) presented by the government recently is being described as a progressive and forward-looking document. There is little to quibble with the broad recommendations in the document. The deeper question to pose is whose interests the reform is going to hurt, and whether this class has enough power to circumvent the reform...