-The Telegraph Study records targeting of minorities during pandemic, including use of social media handles like ‘#CoronaJihad’ New Delhi: The Washington-based think tank Pew Research Centre has come out with a study that puts India at the top of its index of social hostilities involving religion in 2020 in the context of the impact of Covid restrictions. The study has recorded the targeting of minorities in India during the pandemic, including the use...

-Business Standard The budgetary allocation for MGNREGS has already been exhausted, if pending liabilities for the financial year are included Demand for work under India’s biggest anti-poverty scheme increased to a four-month high in November, government data showed as budgetary support for it is almost exhausted this financial year. More than 22.5 million people applied for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in November, the highest since August....

-IANS/Business Standard Reports also suggested that thousands of children are being born with birth defects The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the worlds largest and most lethal chemical disaster, occurred on the intervening night of December 2 and 3 in 1984, 38 years ago. Its aftermath continues to wreak havoc in the lives of hundreds of thousands of survivors. According to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation (BGTRR) of the Madhya Pradesh government, which...

-Hindustan Times Farm policymaking slowed down after the repeal of three laws in 2021. But the climate crisis, geopolitical instability and inflation have exacerbated the urgency for reforms In November 2021, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi repealed three contentious farm laws in a dramatic turnaround. The entire episode — from the passage of the laws, the protests that followed and the turnaround — had stalled national agriculture policymaking. Yet, as this column...

-Hindustan Times What do the latest numbers, analyst forecasts, and high-frequency data tell us about the state of Indian economy? The National Statistical Office (NSO) released GDP numbers for the quarter ending September 2022 on November 30. GDP growth for the second quarter is 6.3%, which is exactly what the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI projected in its September resolution. What do the latest numbers, analyst forecasts, and high-frequency data...