-The New Indian Express Threshold value for sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the formation of cyclones is 28 degree Celsius. At present, SST over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea is around 31-32 degree Celsius. NEW DELHI: A week after Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc in several states, the country is now bracing for second cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal and the credit for the cyclogenesis can be given to exceptionally...

-ThePrint.in In various state govts, the office of district magistrate has been reduced to a glorified post office that receives instructions from various govt departments. Not so long ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ridiculed India’s civil servants in Parliament when he questioned whether the government should be run by ‘babus’, a euphemism for bureaucrats. It is ironic to see the PM now, addressing the very same ‘babus’, the district magistrates of...

-Hindustan Times The directives were, in effect, an extension to all states of the instructions given by the top court to the National Capital Region states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for migrants stranded in and around NCR. The Supreme Court on Monday told states that stranded migrants across the country must be given free dry ration and cooked food through community kitchens, in directions that sought to reduce the problems...

-The Hindu Top court says provision of food for labourers need not wait until completion of registration The government’s delay in completing a national database to identify and register migrant workers across the country in order to provide them benefits in times of dire need stood out like a sore thumb in a Supreme Court hearing on Friday. A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah acknowledged submissions made by advocate Prashant...

-ThePrint.in Researchers from Boston and Columbia universities studied Meghalaya's matrilineal tribes to find that women are more politically active than men when wealth passes from mother to daughter. In most societies around the world, women participate in politics at lower rates than men. Research shows that women also have a distinct set of economic policy preferences, prioritising government-led taxation and redistribution of wealth more than men. Scholars have long debated whether cultural...