Nearly 3,000 patients were provided assistance for treatment and medicines by the Srinagar district administration in Jammu and Kashmir through its helpline amid teh coronavirus-driven lockdown, officials said. The IVRS-based call centre was inaugurated by Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on April 17 and it replaced a series of helpline numbers launched in March aimed at attending to health emergencies on priority during the lockdown. A dedicated fleet of 10 vehicles and a team of 12 professionals have been deputed on the job round-the-clock for attending to issues related to health emergencies, demands related to dialysis, chemotherapy, diabetes and other such ailments, the officials said. Apart from the IVRS call centre, they said four mobile numbers have also been made available. Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary empanelled 13 dialysis centres across the city for providing dialysis services, the expenses of which are borne by the district administration. Most ..

Unlike many Western nations, Sweden didn’t order a strict coronavirus lockdown—still, its economy has taken a hit. WSJ’s Stu Woo reports from a country where shops and bars haven’t shut down. Photo: Stu Woo

Understanding how the body clears the new coronavirus is becoming more important as the U.S. begins to reopen. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains how the body fights infection and why feeling better doesn’t equal being virus-free. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

The Greening of the Left parties has probably been good for them, exposing them to aspects of social deprivation that they had previously ignored. Ramachandra Guha notes the infusion of environmental thought into socialist politics, as the material aspirations of the people have risen.

Forests are a critical repository of India's biodiversity, but widespread habitat destruction is hurting. Attitudes need change too. "Compensatory forestation does not really compensate - it only replaces trees, not biodiversity", says one former top forests official. Ramesh Menon reports.

The Nalwa Sponge Iron Limited's plans to further expand its operations at a plant in Chhatisgarh run into opposition from locals and NGOs, who point to the company's history as well as irregularities in the environment clearance process. Kanchi Kohli reports on recent developments.

Are glaciers in the Himalayas retreating? India depends greatly on these water sources, and we should therefore be more cautious in assessing this risk, writes Darryl D'Monte.

Eco-pioneer Mohammed Dilawar’s nest boxes, specially designed to bring back sparrows and other birds into urban areas, are a hit among bird-lovers in many Indian metros and of course, the target group – the birds – themselves, writes Savita Hiremath.

At a recent public hearing for the Parsa Coal Block in Chhattisgarh, citizens likely to be affected by mining there raised several concerns. However, much of it has been completely ignored in the official record of minutes, reports Kanchi Kohli.

Per Biological Diversity Act, 2002 before using any Indian biological material for commercial or R&D purposes, public consultation is needed via the local Biodiversity Management Committees, which the National Biodiversity Authority wants to do away with. Kanchi Kohli and Shalini Bhutani ask why.

Many widows and destitute women in the fishing communities of Tamilnadu have been left out of tsunami relief because of acute gender bias. Men are also abusing relief funds on liquor, with women bearing the brunt. In the meantime, NGOs are trying to erode rigid attitudes with social awareness, reports Freny Manecksha.

Shortage of water has been a tale of woe in Rajasthan for decades. But this year, the state's largest circulated Hindi daily, Rajasthan Patrika, has motivated around 155,000 volunteers to clean up 388 discarded traditional ponds and wells. Ramesh Menon reports from Jaipur.

At the heart of the PM's proposed shift in economic direction are efficient service delivery and local governance. He needs to begin down this road by showing a willingness to scrap top-down Delhi-driven schemes.

Kerala's lottery regulation is in a mess. Liquor contractors are getting away without paying license fees that are precious revenue to a debt trapped government. The High Court passes a stricture on a minister over sandalwood smuggling. P N Venugopal finds much wrong with the Chandy administration.

Four years on, positives seem to be weighed down by negatives -- thanks mainly to the aggressive land acquisition for mega real estate projects by the ruling LDF coalition. P N Venugopal wonders if the government’s confidence is at its low ebb.

The annual Constitutional Day lecture organized by non-profit organisation Daksh this year will be delivered by Usha Ramanathan on 26 November. Find the details here.

A Consortium of 7 IITs is working on a plan that will form the basis for the long-term vision for the government’s much-talked about Ganga rejuvenation programme. Shripad Dharmadhikary reviews an initial summary released by the Consortium as the framework within which the final plan will be drawn up.

Across Europe, as economies find themselves tottering in the face of deepening financial and social crises, various alternative initiatives are gaining ground, providing hope for a different future.  Ashish Kothari writes on some of these.

In U.P., the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme - instituted under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2005 to ensure access and quality elementary education (Class 6-8) for disadvantaged girls - has opened new doors hitherto closed because of discrimination and poverty. Swapna Majumdar has more.

If RTI applications continue to rise in number, it will not be too long before the system as we know collapses and will have to be overhauled. More suo motu disclosures are needed to avert this, writes Vivek Vaidyanathan.

On learning that she could find out why her widow pension was being delayed, she made her grandson write out an RTI application on her behalf. When she got her pension, I realised how powerful this law could be, writes R Balasubramaniam.

Diane Tuft shows the front line of climate change, in her new book "The Arctic Melt: Images of a Disappearing Landscape." Diane joins Lunch Break's Tanya Rivero to discuss her disturbingly beautiful images. Photo: Diane Tuft

Uber Technologies Inc. this week brought its motorcycle-taxi hailing service to Indonesia, where it will face strong competition from similar apps as startups battle for users in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Greek architect Tilemachos Andrianopoulos provides a tour of his design: a triangular home that blurs the line between inside and the olive grove outside. "Even for a completely new structure, there is always something that already exists there," he says. Photo: Rob Alcaraz/The Wall Street Journal

They make an appearance before every election with a basket of promises and some patchwork to impress the electorate, only to disappear later. Chennai residents tell Lavanya Donthamshetty how tired they are of such politicians, wishing for a leader with vision and the commitment to turn it into reality.

The verdict of the 2009 general election has once again brought the 'centre' in Indian politics to centre-stage. India has returned to an even keel.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said its top leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister on December 26.

Community engagement should be born out of respect for the participating community members and their capacities rather than as tokenism needed to fulfill a program requirement, writes R Balasubramaniam.

The imminent Panchayat elections in Karnataka will see 50 percent reservation for women at all tiers, but how can one ensure real authority for them? Proposed amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act may hold some answers.

Until women are provided adequate access to information, both about their rights and available budgetary resources, Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes will only lead to more disempowerment for them, says Madhu Sarin.

A letter from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs urges states to recognise the habitat rights of vulnerable tribal groups under the FRA. Meenal Tatpati, Rashi Misra and Subrat Kumar Nayak analyse the Dongria Kondh experience to underline what’s necessary to do so effectively.

A flurry of activities of senior citizen associations and related news coverage usually herald the International (and National) Day of Older Persons, annually observed on 1 October since 1990. However, it will take much more to focus serious attention on the world's fastest growing population group, says Ammu Joseph.

One aspect of the recent south Asian earthquake disaster that has received little media attention so far is its effect on livelihoods. But employment and livelihoods are not the stuff of which headlines are made – unless, of course, it is in the context of the corporate world, or when it cannot be ignored such as a nation-wide strike, says Ammu Joseph.

About 320 million Indians go to bed without food every night, and recent data suggests this already alarming situation is getting worse. Despite the magnitude and intensity of this problem, it remains on the margins of policy planning, public action, intellectual discourse, and media coverage, writes Ammu Joseph.

Public audit of an organisation or individual by a statutory authority is proven to give teeth to enforcement. Why then has India's CAG failed to instill fear in the various government departments and enterprises it monitors? A new book by B P Mathur tackles this and more, says Himanshu Upadhyaya.

Natak jaari Hai, Lalit Vachani's film about the street theatre group founded by Safdar Hashmi, offers priceless vignettes into the character and persona of the activists, but is also an objective record of Janam's struggles against many forms of oppression, writes Shoma Chatterji.

The premature demise of acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who passed away on May 30, has robbed Indian cinema of a rare combination of courage and sensitivity and perhaps, of many more masterpieces to come. Shoma A. Chatterji reminisces his works in this tribute to his genius.

The conflict between farmers and government in Rajasthan escalated recently. Farmers resorted to violence after demonstrations failed. There are simply too many stakeholders and too few resources to satisfy everybody. But there are ways to make life easier for citizens, writes Deepak Malik.

The West Bengal government remains under a cloud due to violence over its industrialisation plans, but in other areas, its procurement and off-farm processing support for farmers has helped them far more than Maharashtra's approach to its own farmers. Jaideep Hardikar visited Burdman district.

As parties firm up their candidates in various constituencies, several celebrity names - new and old - are doing the rounds yet again. Shoma Chatterji looks at a few examples from the years gone by to question what we may really expect from these star-turned-politicians.

Kerala's fisheries sector is heading for deep crisis. The sector is already in troubled waters due to over exploitation of marine wealth, unbridled mechanisation and debt traps. Now the clouds of impending import of fish are further darkening the horizon. M Suchitra and P N Venugopal report.

The government's new plans to boost manufacturing in the country look quite similar to its earlier promises made when SEZs were set up. But there are a few lessons to be learned from that experiment, writes Kannan Kasturi.

In view of the usual thrust on packaged food distributed in the name of relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of any disaster or human crisis, L S Aravinda warns against the tendency to sell out local food traditions to the industry.

As has been the historical trend, most of the budget announcements on agriculture this year, too, are geared towards benefitting agribusiness rather than augmenting farm income, writes Devinder Sharma.

Is India shifting its nuclear strategy in a new direction? Firdaus Ahmed analyses what that would mean.

The Supreme Court's order on the removal of tinted films from vehicles is being implemented across the country, amidst complaints from the public. Navya P K reports.

When technological change has the potential to put the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people at risk, it must be regulated differently from other products in a free market. Blindly promoting innovation, as is now being done with genetically engineered crops, is self-defeating, writes Suman Sahai.

Left to “take its own course”, the law invariably manages to meander into a dead end. Time to make it chart a more meaningful course, says Dilip D’Souza.

Fixated on eliminating the grounds for disqualification of legislators that arose from their holding of offices-of-profit in the Executive, Parliament has sent back the infamous Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill to the President, who is now constitution-bound to sign it. Madabhushi Sridhar points out why the legislation must be stopped.

Effective district-level bodies could have played a critical role in ensuring legal environmental protection for coastal zones and communities. Manju Menon, Kanchi Kohli and Meenakshi Kapoor discuss how these have been continuously disregarded.