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Wednesday, February 18, 2026
TopicEpidemic Diseases Act

Topic: Epidemic Diseases Act

India kept improvising during coronavirus. Age of Pandemics needs a new public health law

An up-to-date legal framework will ensure there is no misuse of police power and human rights are protected. India can't tackle next pandemic with a 19th-century law.

All about the ‘Black Death’ Bubonic Plague that has China on high alert

A city in northern China has reported suspected cases of bubonic plague this Saturday. The disease killed about 12 million in India when it occurred in 1896.

Up to 7 yrs in jail, Rs 5 lakh fine if you injure a health worker treating Covid-19 patients

Modi govt promulgates ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, increasing punishment and fast-tracking investigation and judgments.

Kerala promulgates Covid-19 ordinance to restrict duration of essential services

The Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020 allows the Kerala govt to take special measures and frame regulations to tackle an epidemic disease.

Plague of 1896 redefined sedition. Coronavirus mustn’t bring in laws that outlive crisis

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was tried for his articles in Kesari during the bubonic plague. It would fundamentally change how India understood sedition.

Modi govt is using two laws to tackle coronavirus spread. But one of them needs changes

While govt is using Disaster Management Act and 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act in tandem to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, experts say India needs a modern public health law.

Plague passport to detention — Epidemic Act was a medical surveillance tool in British India

The Epidemic Act was enacted to crack down on people — cart-drivers, sweepers, cleaners — who fled municipal limits in the aftermath of the 1896 bubonic plague.

These are the two laws Modi govt has invoked to tackle coronavirus. But it’s not enough

The Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 are innovative, but they still fall short of comprehensibly dealing with outbreaks.

On Camera

Tarique Rahman’s govt is on a mission of de-Yunusification. It will fix India-Bangladesh ties

Going forward, India and Bangladesh will have to double the effort to fix the damage done to bilateral ties by the Yunus administration.

Venezuela crude returns to India’s oil basket. But only as ‘supplementary’ supply

Indian refiners are testing Venezuelan barrels again as Russian supply sinks, but analysts say volumes will remain limited due to refinery constraints & supply capacity.

US military commander, envoy Sergio Gor visit Indian Army Western Command, Bengaluru next

At the Western Army Command, the American delegation was briefed on the capabilities of the formation, past operations and the path ahead.

The new Great Game—Trump’s playing for time, China for leverage & India for wiggle room

This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.