Governance

India Development Review's piece analysed nine key aspects of the New Education Policy 2020 - the major pluses and minuses in an easy to understand format. Following the publication of the article, NGOs and education groups across India approached the authors of the piece to conduct training sessions.

The story highlighted the issue of the agricultural market being flooded with bogus seeds, thereby severely affecting farmers' produce. The report spurred many news channels to report on the issue and the government initiated action against bogus-seed manufacturers and sellers.

Live Law highlights the critical lapses on part of the Magistrate in the 'Jeyaraj and Bennix case' that were in violation of Article 22 of the Constitution. Live Law's piece helped trigger a discussion on the need to ensure Magisterial supervision of police custody which is the right of an individual under Article 21.

India Development Review's (IDR) piece introduces readers to the history of CSR in India and the reasons behind poor corporate compliance. It also offers a critical analysis of why the new rules are unlikely to change corporate culture much. A leading impact investment firm used the coverage to create their policy brief on how the new amendments to the CSR rules would affect funding for social enterprises. They also used this as talking points in their conversation with the government and investors.

In light of the appointment of former CJI Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha, Live Law traces similar instances in the past. It points out the irony of the fact that it was a judgement delivered by the constitutional bench headed by the very same CJI, which expressed concern on the impact of post-retirement appointments of tribunal members on judicial independence. The article highlighted the dangers of judges being influenced by the lure of post-retirement appointments and the pernicious impact it can have on the neutrality of the justice system.

Khabar Lahariya reports on the deplorable condition of the road leading to Japura village in Banda district in Uttar Pradesh. The route would be waterlogged and remain inaccessible for the villagers during the monsoon. A month after the story was published, the route was paved and made into a 'pukka road' which has drastically improved the lives in terms of connectivity and convenience for the residents of the village.

The Kerala government had issued notices against thousands of fishermen alleging that they violated Coastal Regulation Zone rules and had asked them to relocate. Punnapra, a coastal area of Alappuza district in Kerala was affected the most. Asiaville did an in-depth ground reportage by speaking to the fishermen on their struggles, how they were being forced to relocate and how the government’s action of issuing notices has adversely affected their lives. Following Asiaville’s report, the government stepped in and stopped the relocation and the chief minister of the state intervened and assured the fishermen that the issues will be examined afresh by the administration.

The Lede reported on how recruitment agencies in the Middle East were illegally charging Indian migrant workers a "freedom fee" for their return to India. The Indian Embassy in Kuwait began a probe in response to The Lede's story and the practice of charging migrant workers a "freedom fee" was stopped.