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Dear Reader,
India chose to keep away from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the 15-nation Asian trade grouping, which came into effect last week. Swarajya argues that India’s decision was sound, as RCEP is largely a “Chinese club” in its present form. Plus, India has usually emerged less-off in free-trade agreements, because ‘services’, India’s strength, is largely ignored in these free-trade treaties.
The highest court in the land has once again reiterated the paramountcy of “personal liberty” of the citizen when courts weigh the merits of a case. However, The Wire finds that there are a bevy of cases, mostly against activists and journalists, where this dictum has been summarily disregarded.
And, The Caravan reports on how the majority of rejection of nominations, on “flimsy grounds”, for the just-concluded Bihar elections were first-time candidates, civil activists and aspirants from the marginalised communities.
Please read on for a selection from the coverage of our grantees this week.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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As Long As Services Are Not Part Of The Deal, Neither RCEP Nor FTAs Are For India |
As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) comes into force, Swarajya argues that India has chosen well to keep out of it. It asserts that in its present form RCEP is “nothing but a Chinese club”. While the other 14 signatories would want India to be a part of it, as a counterweight to China, India should not join until ‘services’ get its due share in the treaty and the country attains greater traction in manufacturing and cost competitiveness in goods.
Read Here |
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A List of Activists, Scholars and Scribes Whose Personal Liberty Remains at Judiciary's Mercy |
Even as the Supreme Court of India emphasizes the importance of “personal liberty”, The Wire compiles a list of activists and journalists who have been arrested in the past years and have been denied regular hearing in the courts and have their basic ‘personal liberty’ violated.
Read Here |
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Many grassroot leaders among rejected nominations for Bihar polls |
In the just-concluded Bihar polls, 614 of a total of 4,463 nominations were rejected by the electoral officers. The Caravan reports that the vast majority of them were the nominations of first-time candidates, civil society activists or candidates from marginalised groups. Most of the rejections were on “flimsy grounds”. This has led to disillusionment and erosion of trust in the election process.
Read Here |
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‘Government violating rights of Tamenglong people by depriving them a court’ |
Imphal Free Press reports on the Tamenglong district, one of the most backward districts in Manipur, which does not even have a district court. This forces people of the district to travel to Imphal, the state capital, 147-km away, to access the legal system. This is on top of the abysmal health facilities and lack of all-weather roads that Tamenglong suffers from.
Read Here |
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COVID-19 in India: Less than half the tests are RT-PCR |
Down to Earth points out that less than half the tests conducted in the country are RT-PCR. Many states have disregarded the guidelines that symptomatic persons should undergo the RT-PCR test even if their rapid test is negative. This neglect has thwarted Delhi’s attempts in tracing and isolation leading to huge spike in cases. The rise in pollution, the cold weather, the wedding season and the failure of people to abide by the distancing and mask guidelines have added to the surging numbers.
Read Here |
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| What are The Challenges Before The New Government in Bihar? |
| In the final episode of Election Nama, a special podcast series on the Bihar elections, Suno India, dives into the challenges before the NDA government in Bihar. It also looks at the reason why exit polls and surveys, which projected that the Mahagathbandhan was favoured, got it wrong. |
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| Pfizer and the Hunt for a COVID-19 Vaccine |
| Takshashila Institution’s analysts take listeners through the different Covid-19 vaccines currently in development. They discuss how the different vaccine candidates stack up against each other on aspects such as speed of development and ease of distribution, amongst others. |
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| No room for consent |
| India Development Review argues that various stakeholders, like parents and community leaders, need to be sensitised on the rights of women for them to be able to exercise their rights and free will in the choice of partners. |
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| #Diwali | இந்த வருடம் #பட்டாசு sales எப்படி இருக்கு? |
| The restrictions on the bursting of firecrackers and the Covid pandemic has hit the retailers hard in Tamil Nadu. Asiaville speaks to these stall owners to find that customers are sparse this Deepawali season and the sellers are staring at mounting losses. |
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