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Continuing coverage of COVID lockdown

In this issue

31-07-202038 STORIES

FL31KAWALTR

Developmental Issues

Unwelcome airport in a tiger corridor in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government has started the process to build a greenfield airport in Chandrapur district even though that will result in the loss of a

Insidious campaign seeking abrogation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991

A group of Hindu sants has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the abrogation of a legal provision preserving the status of each place of wo

FL31SERBIA2

COVID-19 Global scene

Global chaos as COVID-19 rages across continents

The pandemic rages unabated across continents, from war-torn Yemen to the Balkans to Brazil and Peru to South Africa. Even as autocratic regimes see i

FL31MODI

Desperation and diversion: BJP's political strategies as COVID infections continue to soar

The BJP’s political strategy as COVID cases continue to rise is to divert attention from the pressing concerns of the people on the public health and

FL31INDIACHINA

The ban on 59 Chinese apps is just bluster

The ban on 59 Chinese apps is a knee-jerk reaction that can only have adverse consequences for the Indian digital ecosystem. It is unlikely to promote

FL31KAMMARDI

Interview: Prof T.N. Prakash Kammardi

‘A majority of farmers oppose the changes to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act’

Interview with Professor T.N. Prakash Kammardi, former chairman, Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission.

FL31PROTESTS

Karnataka: Undoing land reforms

The Karnataka government’s decision, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to introduce an amendment Bill to make it possible for non-agriculturists

FL31MPFARMER

Madhya Pradesh: Marketing privatisation

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh are critical of the two recent Central ordinances relating to agriculture and of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for no

FL31PUNJABLAND3

Punjab: Land struggle in the time of pandemic

The strong-arm methods adopted by rich farmers to force agricultural labour to work at lower wages following the pandemic-induced shortage of migrant

FL31FRANCEHUAWEI

Boycotting Chinese products: Bravado is no substitute for business

The Modi government’s move to ban all things Chinese is likely to aggravate conditions for the pandemic-hit Indian economy. The pursuit of national se

FL31DOVAL2

India&China: Talking peace

After weeks of tension India and China agree to expedite disengagement of the troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control and desist from taking

FL31NHM

National Health Mission & the pandemic

Health warriors’ woes

The COVID crisis has increased the work pressure on National Health Mission staff, but there is no effort to make their remuneration commensurate with

FL31RUPANI

Drug Production

A scam in the making?

Two government institutions are collaborating with a private pharmaceutical company to come up with drugs for COVID treatment. The company’s connectio

fl31-july9-media-briefing

The geographic spread of COVID-19 in India

Despite the government’s unfounded optimism, the southward movement of the virus and the growing absolute numbers imply that India has quite a distanc

FL31TIKTOKBAN2

C.P. Chandrasekhar

A soft blow against China

Using economic weapons to temper China’s stand on the border question would not be easy for India. The presence of Chinese firms in a relatively incon

FL31RRMAIN2

Trials and tribulations

With the government not open about information on the nature of COVID-19 spread and the research community helpless without data from the sero-surveil

FL31SATHANKULAMDEATHS

Sathankulam custodial deaths

Sathankulam: Terror in uniform

The custodial torture and deaths of a father-son duo in Tamil Nadu rip apart the police’s image, while the judiciary makes unprecedented interventions

A dubious record

FL31SURATMARKET

COVID-19 Update

Surat: Silence of the looms

A combination of labour shortage, liquidity crunch and absence of demand seems to be spelling doom for Surat’s textile trade, until recently an econom

FL31HARYANASHOP

COVID-19 update

Haryana: Hotspot for neighbours

Even as the State grapples with an exponential growth in the number of cases in recent weeks, the government is desperate to restart industrial activi

FL31BENGAL1

COVID-19 Update

West Bengal: Falling behind

Unable to make much headway in enforcing social distancing, and with the number of COVID-19 cases poised to rise exponentially, the West Bengal govern

FL31KERALA

Kerala: Fear over the cities

As ‘triple lockdowns’ and community quarantine increase in Kerala, the question is on whether the State is finally seeing community transmission.

FL31GUJARAT

COVID-19 Update

Gujarat: Not a model to follow

With the total positivity rate and the case fatality rate almost double the national average, Gujarat appears to have completely lost the grip on mana

FL31KARNATAKA2

COVID-19 Update

Karnataka: slipping away

As the State government is struggling to identify the sources of the rapidly spreading infection, issues such as shortage of medical personnel and hos

FL31BIHAR

COVID-19 Update

Bihar & Jharkhand: Dangerous denial

Bihar and Jharkhand are apparently moving to the community transmission stage, with their governments and people throwing caution to the winds followi

FL31RETURNINGMIGRANTS

COVID-19 Update

Uttar Pradesh: Infrastructure in a shambles

The rising COVID figures in Uttar Pradesh point to the debilitating effects of the State’s poor public health infrastructure on its efforts to deal wi

FL31PUNJAB2

COVID-19 Update

Punjab: Wider spread

Since mid June, the positivity rate has doubled in the State with COVID-19 cases, which were initially concentrated in the cities of Ludhiana, Amrits

FL31DELHICM

COVID-19 UPDATE

Silent exodus from Delhi

Migrants continue to flee the Capital despite official assurances on the city’s preparedness to tackle the pandemic.

FL31MP2

COVID-19 Update

Madhya Pradesh: Communal virus

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh resorts to divisive rhetoric and tries to market its welfare schemes with an eye on the Assembly byelections even as the Sta

FL31ODISHA

COVID-19 Update

Odisha: The going gets tough

As more and more COVID-19 positive cases get detected outside quarantine centres in Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik government takes stringent measures to

FL31RAJASTHAN

COVID-19 UPDATE

Rajasthan: Relative ease

Rajasthan fares much better in comparison with its neighbouring States in containing the spread of COVID and in keeping the mortality rate low.

FL31TNEDAPPADI

COVID-19 Update

Tamil Nadu: Districts in focus

The government, which refuses to make its fight against the pandemic inclusive, claims that the COVID-19 curve is flattening in Chennai. But it has a

FL31AMPHANHOUSE

Amphan: Relief as disaster

Trinamool leaders at the panchayat level face the fury of the victims of the supercyclone for alleged misappropriation of relief funds disbursed by th

FL31ODISHA

BJP’s blueprint for Odisha

The BJP is deploying all the tricks of the trade to capture power in Odisha, which has been under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s sway for over two de

FL31CAMPAIGN

U.S. & COVID-19

U.S.: Growing rate of disaffection

Despite a surging second wave of COVID-19 infections in several U.S. States, President Donald Trump claims that the crisis is being handled well. He i

FL31ISC

Science Conferences

Oh to be a scientist!

Scientific conferences have become public relations exercises instead of functioning as spaces where scientific ideas are exchanged and new ideas enco

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Enrica Lexie case

Enrica Lexie case: Justice denied

India accepts an international tribunal order in the case relating to the killing of two fishermen by Italian marines off the Kerala coast. Chief Mini

FL31MUMBAI

COVID-19 Update

Maharashtra: Light at the end of the tunnel

The COVID situation continues to take Mumbai through ups and downs, but there seems to be a slight improvement.

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