-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the persistent digital divide afflicting rural India owing to poor and insufficient internet connectivity. With the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech acknowledging the need ‘to complete’ internet connectivity to villages, there is a renewed vigour and interest in the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN)/BharatNet project. An important question to pose when translating policy to project is: when should...

-The Indian Express “Private consumption has lost its discretionary elements across the board, particularly transport Services, hospitality, recreation and cultural activities,” the RBI said in its Annual Report for 2019-20. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Tuesday indicated that the economy which is expected to contract for the first time ever, will take “quite some time to mend and regain” the pre-Covid momentum, as the “shock to consumption is severe” and the...

-The Pioneer Ranchi (Jharkhand): The employees engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) continued their pen down strike on 29th day in the State. Around 5000 MGNREGA workers are on strike demanding regularization of the Services and better pay package. State Rural development minister Alamgir Alam who is presently home quarantine after some of his cabinet colleagues tested corona positive, on several occasions had urged the workers to return...

-Moneycontrol.com The RTI response shows that at least two companies — Jyoti CNV Automation and AMTZ Basic — to whom an advance was released, were later not recommended by the technical committee constituted under the DGHS There is a vast difference in the prices of ventilators bought under PM CARES fund, and the two of the companies to whom an advance was released were later not recommended by the technical committee constituted...

-The Hindu Domestic abuse among hurdles faced by them, says report A staggering 90% or 9.2 lakh women in India estimated to require abortion Services could not access them between January and June because of the stringent COVID-19 lockdown. They are among the 13 lakh women who couldn’t get any kind of sexual and reproductive health Services, many of whom were impeded because of domestic abuse, according to a report launched by Marie...