-IndiaSpend.com New Delhi: On June 19, 2020, traders P Jayaraj and his son J Bennicks were arrested and detained in Sathankulam police station in southern Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district for allegedly violating COVID-19 Lockdown rules. Three days later, Bennicks died in hospital, followed by Jayaraj’s death the next day. They had allegedly endured hours of beating and torture by police. On September 26, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet,...

-The Indian Express Over the first half of 2020, while average wealth rose by only 1.7 per cent, Credit Suisse estimated that the full rise for 2020 will be 5-6 per cent and 2021 will see growth of about 9 per cent. The average wealth of Indian adults rose marginally by $120 (about Rs 8,800) to $17,420 (Rs 12.77 lakh) at end-June 2020, as against $17,300 as of December 2019, showing some...

-The Indian Express “As many as 55 journalists were targeted for covering the pandemic in India between 25 March, when Lockdown was first imposed, and 31 May, a report by Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) has shown,” they stated. Two international press associations have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to take “immediate steps to ensure that journalists can work without harassment and fear of...

-Scroll.in Floods, coronavirus, unemployment, hunger. Snapshots from Muzaffarpur district of an election where everyone speaks of change but no one is sure what it means. For six months, there was no work. Only hunger and debt. When work finally came, it proved deadly. “His leg swelled up, sir,” said a neighbour. “Itna hi dukh tha. That was all to his suffering.” Gorkha Manjhi died on October 14, three days after he came back from...

-The Indian Express While much of the world is seeing benign inflation trends, India is a clear exception. Among the drivers of headline inflation in India in recent months has been food prices, especially those of vegetables. With economic activity picking pace after the easing of Lockdown measures, the recovery has thrown up some paradoxes: revival in employment amid a fall in labour force participation, surging inflation rate despite disinflationary impact from...