How 3 ‘smart’ Indian names have ruined 200-year reputation of most respected medical journals

Two of the world’s biggest medical journals - The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) - took a hit, when they had to retract two studies on COVID-19 they had published. The studies claimed that Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), when prescribed for COVID-19; and underlying heart disease, elevated the chances of death. The WHO paused its trial on HCQ based on the papers. The study based on data from “671 hospitals over 6 continents” was fabricated. What added to the embarrassment? Among the people employed for the firm that supplied the data – was a science-fiction writer! Plus, an Indian connection.

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Digital divide worsens social exclusion: Anti-caste activists on Devika’s death

The tragic incident of a Dalit girl, a class-9 student, killing herself over her inability to access the virtual classes started by the Kerala government, during the COVID-19 lockdown, has highlighted the digital and social exclusion of students from the Dalit and Adivasi communities in Kerala. The News Minute explores the roots of this divide that has deprived over two lakh families in the state from accessing services rolled out by the state.

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From Financial Capital To COVID-19 Capital: What Went Wrong In Mumbai

About 1 in 5 COVID-19 positive cases are from Mumbai, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. With crowded spaces, poor state of health infrastructure and a large population living in overcrowded slums, the coronavirus has nearly overwhelmed the city. IndiaSpend reports on how a series of missteps like the delay in surveillance of slum populations and an inability to expand testing, amongst others, led to and precipitated the crisis.

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Food Ministry Denies Shortfall in Lockdown Ration Distribution, The Wire Responds

The Wire reported that by the government’s own data about 44.5mn people eligible for grain under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) did not get their dues for the month of May. And about 64.4mn ration-card holders did not receive their share a month earlier, in April. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution’s (MCFPD) issued a response, partly denying the story and partly laying the responsibility at the door of the states. The Wire responded by standing by its story and issued a point-by-point rebuttal.

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PIB’s 3 out of 4 ‘fact-checks’ on deaths in Shramik trains are unsubstantiated

Even as the government arranged trains for migrant workers to go back home, the media reported that for a few the journey turned out to be catastrophic – with the heat and lack of drinking water taking their lives. The Press Information Bureau (PIB), ‘fact-checked’ and tweeted that the deaths of these migrants were because of pre-existing illnesses. AltNews fact-checked the PIB’s fact-checks and found that in three out of four instances the PIB was wrong.

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