In good news for female workers in factories in the state of Meghalaya, the state cabinet has decided to provide them with free sanitary napkins. The state amended a 40-year-old Factory Rule to protect the workers at workplaces. According to the amendment, it is also mandatory for factories to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to …

In more troublesome development, six members of a particularly vulnerable tribal group of Andaman and Nicobar Islands tested positive for COVID-19. The health ministry said all the six people have recovered and returned to their island. “There are five particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) — some in Port Blair and others across different islands in the archipelago. One PVTG has …

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has hit out at people who are not following COVID guidelines and flouting rules.  The ICMR said those who do not wear face masks are driving the coronavirus pandemic in India. “Irresponsible, less cautious people who are not wearing masks are driving the pandemic in India,” said ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava at a …

India is set to have a vaccine against the coronavirus by the end of 2020. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan said a COVID-19 vaccine is likely in the next 4-5 months. “I hope that if everything goes well, India will have access to a coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020,” he later tweeted. कब तक …

While India remains third worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic, its COVID numbers are a reason for some cheer. India has achieved a record high of 63,631 recoveries in a day, the Health Ministry said. The daily tests on Saturday scaled a new high of more than 10 lakh, taking the cumulative tests to more than 3.4 crore. According to …

In a major win for Transgenders’ rights, the Uttar Pradesh cleared an amendment to the UP Revenue Code of 2006, now allowing transgender people to inherit agricultural land. The amendment cleared limitations of nomenclature in inheritance laws that only mention “sons”, “daughters”, “married”, “unmarried” and “widow”. The proposal for a law acknowledging the inheritance rights of the third gender, as …

While close to 200 doctors have died in India while performing their COVID duties, attacks on health professionals continue to take place across the country. A team of healthcare workers engaged in collecting swab samples for COVID-19 test was pelted with stones by some people in Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. A 40-year-old lab technician, Vinod Sharma, was …

Even amidst the gloom, the spirit of solidarity is alive as young people got together at the Kannur airport to prepare food for passengers who were landing in the odd hours of the night. These are the passengers in flights going to Kozhikode diverted to Kannur and Cochin after the fatal crash. A few users posted pictures on Twitter of …

Heavy rains in Mumbai have brought the city to a standstill with many parts of the city flooding.  Intermittent heavy showers continued to lash Mumbai a day after it was battered and shattered by stormy weather that left a trail of destruction, fallen trees or branches, hundreds of vehicles submerged or broken down. A minor landslide occurred when a portion …

Amid the growing chorus to boycott Chinese products across the country in the aftermath of Galwan Valley clashes with Chinese troops which killed 20 Indian soldiers, the government is considering increasing customs duty on goods from China. However, nothing has been finalised yet. The ongoing border tensions have forced the government to consider cutting down import of non-essential items, according …