The number of active cases of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh went up to 1,800 on Saturday, while nearly 1,400 people have been discharged so far, a senior official said. Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said the national recovery percentage was 30 per cent but the figure was 43 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. "It is a matter of satisfaction that people are recovering and returning home," he said. The number of active infection cases is 1,800 as against 1,761 on Friday, while the number of people who have fully recovered has risen from 1,387 to 1,399, the official said. Prasad stressed that community surveillance will play an important role in coming days with the return of tens of thousands of migrants. There was a need for the 'gram nigrani samitis' in rural areas and 'mohalla nigrani samitis' in urban areas to work strictly, he said. "All those returning (to the state) are being kept in 21 days' home quarantine and those returning from abroad are also being put in quarantine.

With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8. No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths. Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated.

Two fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Saturday, both being foreign returnees who reached the state from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on May 7 and were among the expatriates airlifted by the Centre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indians abroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said with the two new patients, the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 505 and there are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, has been cured today.The two new cases are now under treatment in Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi- Kochi andDubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively," Vijayan told reporters. "There are 23,930 people under observation in the state out of which 334 are in isolation wards of various hospitals," he said. Out of the total 505 infected, Kerala has till now cured 485,Vijayan added. The state has reported three deaths.

Five people were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after recovering from the novel coronavirus infection, health officials said. Those discharged include two women and a five-year-old boy, an official informed. So far 43 people have been discharged while the number of active cases in the state is 16, he added. "Two women and a boy from Kabirdham, two men from Durg and Surajpur were discharged after two consecutive tests were negative for the infection. They will be kept in a quarantine centre as a precaution before they are allowed to go home," a public relations officer of AIIMS Raipur told PTI. Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 59; New cases nil; Deaths nil; Discharged 43; Active cases 16; People tested so far 23,629.

The litigation in Kerala over Coca Cola's activities and the over-exploitation of water resources has moved into a crucial phase. Sreedevi Jacob reports.

The National Environmental Appellate Authority came into being in 1997 for citizens concerned with environmental impact to challenge central government clearances. But the Law Commission of India pointed out not long ago that this forum of final appeals "had very little work". Kanchi Kohli discovers more.

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We end an eventful 2015 by looking into the controversial Maheshwar Hydropower Project, what is happening to several forest cases, how some sex workers are empowering themselves by gaining legal knowledge, an interesting learning institute called Adivasi Academy, and much more.

In this edition, we have a touching write-up on caste discrimination and how it very much exists in our society, the success story of the displaced forest dwellers of Ranthambhore, the protests by tribals against the mining companies in Odissa, how school going girls in West Bengal are saying no to child marriage, and more.

In this edition, we look into the reformation of our Public Distribution System, how Dalits are portrayed in Hindi cinema, emergence of grassroot movements in different parts of India for sustainable and equitable way of living, interesting stories from the state of Manipur, and more.

Pushpa Achanta describes the unrelenting efforts of the KDMV in educating members of the Dalit and Adivasi communities about their legal entitlements and helping them wage battles for justice in cases involving caste atrocity and discrimination.

The state is by far the biggest litigant, and contributes a large part to the staggering backlog clogging the courts. The Centre, States and public sector companies determinedly appeal every adverse verdict, despite winning only a small minority of them eventually. Kannan Kasturi reports.

A complete and accurate database of dams and rivers in the country is the first pre-requisite for analysing hydrological issues and safety, but an analysis by Himanshu Thakkar shows that the authority entrusted to maintain such records clearly has a long way to go.

The Ishrat Jahan case has again hit the headlines with former home minister P Chidambaram being accused of rewriting an affidavit to prove the 19-year-old’s innocence. Ramesh Menon presents a recap and investigates where things stand now.

On Independence day, a District Magistrate in U.P. handed over three teachers of a primary school to the police, during a surprise school visit. School children are among the worst sufferers in the state; they continue to pay for a system they neither moulded nor understand. Puja Awasthi reports.

As part of a study on the socio-economic status of women from the ‘Most Backward Castes’, women from the Nayibrahmin or barber community talk of their lives of oppression and deprivation. Akhileshwari Ramagoud recounts their tales.

Jenny Van Leeuwen Harrington of Gilman Hill Asset Management says dividend stocks do just fine when the Federal Reserve hikes rates, contrary to popular belief. B&G Foods (BGS) is one of her favorites now.

In 2007, Mayawati won extensively in OBC strongholds and lost in some SC ones — those who voted for her were actually voting someone else out

'Why would the Bahujan Samaj Party nominate a Gujjar to fight from South Delhi and the BJP respond by nominating another Gujjar from the same seat?'

Cash is often viewed as a safe, but boring investment. But lately, it’s looking shinier than it has in a while. WSJ explains why investors are piling trillions into money market accounts, even as stocks reach new highs.

'Perhaps it is too much to expect the channels which run on celebrity content and arrogance to say that they had to eat crow. But because television news networks are arbiters of the moral and the political right and who dare ask them questions?'

To be hip at Silicon Valley startups these days, one must leave the flip flops and hoodies at home and dress up on Fridays. WSJ's Andy Jordan reports from San Francisco on the "anti-Casual Friday" that's come to be known as "Formal Friday."

The proverbial casting couch has been a reality over the years since women made their foray into the world of films and entertainment. As the industry joins in celebrating Women’s Day, Shoma Chatterji explores if  more of its women remain victims, rather than complicit 'sinners'.

The green bench of the Supreme Court transferred several forest cases to different institutions for decision making, in order to expedite the disposal of these long pending cases. Kanchi Kohli explains how this could influence forest governance in India.

There is much wrong with the draft broadcast regulation legislation and the good news is that it is unlikely to be introduced in Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session. The bad news is that in the renewed tug-of-war between the government and the broadcast industry, the public is in danger of being left out once more, writes Ammu Joseph.

On World Radio Day, Ammu Joseph looks at the representation of women in Indian radio and wonders if the medium can play a more significant role in ensuring empowerment and equal participation.

India's upcoming National Biotech Policy will aim at food security, health-safety, farmer well-being, protection of the environment and security of trade in farm commodities. But favouring GM crops over alternatives runs real risks of jeopardizing this agenda, argues Kasturi Das.

Financial irregularities, a probable political conflict of interest and unsavoury social impact have thrown a cloud over the potential of Sikkim’s casino industry, once envisioned to attract revenues for the state from gaming tourism. Soumik Dutta reports.

The newly announced country assistance strategy for India is the continuation of what the World Bank has been pushing in this country and elsewhere in the last 15 years or so years, with nothing to show for it, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

The story of a heroic soldier captured by the enemy and tortured to death stirred strong emotions during the Kargil war. Why, then, is there a lid of secrecy around his death, wonders Firdaus Ahmed.

A PPP project, hailed as a milestone in logistic infrastructure development at the time of launch shows scant growth three years later, costing the Cochin Port trust dearly in the process. P N Venugopal throws light on all that has gone wrong with it.

Journalists have strongly objected to provisions of the proposed Broadcast Bill empowering the government to cripple media through pre-censorship. The media industry has been furiously lobbying against the Bill's attempt to regulate ownership. Amidst all this, there has been little mention of the need for the public to have a say, notes Ammu Joseph.

There is a lot that happens in the background to make sure that every Indian election - like the just concluded Bihar assembly election - is conducted fairly, freely and peacefully. Smarak Swain, who was on election duty in Bihar reports on the challenges faced by the Election Commission of India and how it is overcoming them effectively.

High Courts and subordinate courts have been directed by the Supreme Court to expedite the disposing of criminal cases, yet cases languish for years in these courts. Harish Narasappa explains why it is so and how it can be fixed.

Rohith Vemula's death was the end of his dreams of becoming another Carl Sagan. But so many other dreams have perished because of caste-based persecution that has been a blight on higher education and professional practice in this country. Shahina Nafeesa's touching personal essay, translated by Renu Ramanath, brings out deeply disturbing realities.

Xavier's Foundation in Guwahati has come up with the idea of establishing a Clothes Bank for the poor. It estimates that up to 3 million people may have need for its clothes. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

With the proposed switch from food rations to direct cash payments to the poor, the government may be trying to free itself from its commitment to supply each BPL family with a certain quantity of food. Kannan Kasturi reports.

In what appears to be a damning indictment of the Five Year Plans, launched in 1951, as well as the economic reforms process that began in 1991, the first ever socio-economic survey has painted a dismal picture of rural India, says Devinder Sharma.

In September 2015, the central government announced a pilot programme of providing direct cash transfers in place of food grains in an attempt to reform the Public Distribution System. Centre for Equity Studies (CES) recently conducted a survey of this pilot programme in Chandigarh. Shikha Nehra of CES reports the key findings from the survey.

Recently, the Central Empowered Committee once again heard the strange case of a hotel coming up on land sanctioned for a parking lot and bus stand in Himachal Pradesh. Kanchi Kohli reports on the many ways in which officials are trying to get this illegal use regularised.

13 Dec: A Reader is a collection of essays on the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001. The book offers lay-readers a detailed overview of the gaps in the investigation, and the loopholes in the case, particularly against Mohammed Afzal, currently on death row and seeking clemency, writes Bikram Jeet Batra.

A recent publication from the World Resources Institute shows that the informed consent of those affected by large projects can be an asset to those projects, rather than an obstacle. Shripad Dharmadhikary reviews Development Without Conflict: The Business Case for Community Consent.

The Bhagwan Datta mandir in Belkhed, Akola, was built by Dalits when they were still Hindus. It was ostensibly the focus of the fiery violence there earlier this month. The real reasons? Caste, the decline of organised Dalit politics, the crisis in agriculture, and wage conflicts - all played a role, writes P Sainath.

In a number of dalit settlements in Gaya, Bihar, there are school structures but no teachers. In some places, where there are both, as in Parariya village, the dominant Yadavs make intrusive and insulting remarks that do not provide a facilitating environment. Rahul Ramagundam reports.

With 60 Covid-19 positive cases in the past 24 hours, the number of infected people in Odisha mounted to 245 on Friday, government updates show.

The greatest show on earth just ended. It has seen the demise of greats and the democratisation of football.

Precious time of the nation and its leadership is being wasted on a non-issue, namely Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)’s new Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT).

Five migrant workers who returned to their homes in Palamu from Chhattisgarh in an autorickshaw on May 1 tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the state’s tally of coronavirus cases to 132. Of these, 89 are active cases while 41 have recovered and two have died during treatment.