-Hindustan Times Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won’t materialise After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement PRIce much higher than the market PRIce and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A sub-committee of the highest advisory body on education has recommended including a provision for punishing parents if they don't send their wards to schools. A draft report placed before a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (Cabe) on Monday said the Right to Education Act needed to be looked into afresh. "The provisions of the RTE Act 2009 need to be re-looked as there is no...

-The Hindu Business Line The government must universalise social security pensions for the elderly, single women and persons with disabilities and also operationalise the maternity entitlement scheme at the earliest, says Reetika Khera, Associate Professor of Economics at IIT-Delhi. In an interview to BusinessLine, Khera argued against the use of Aadhaar for authentication of beneficiaries and said it has “no role in plugging leakages or in the identification of correct beneficiaries”....

-Down to Earth That explains why agrarian riots have increased by over 600 per cent in the last three years Whenever agriculture makes headlines, ironically, they hide more stories of distress. For sixth consecutive year, horticulture (fruits and vegetables) production has outstripped food grain production. Apparently, it is encouraging news given that farmers earn more from vegetables and fruits than food grains. But around the same time, reports of farmers dumping...

-TheWire.in The number of vacancies in the Central Information Commission is set to reach the all-time high of four. New Delhi: The number of vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) is set to rise to the highest ever – four – on January 15, with information commissioner Manjula Prasher retiring that day. Chief information commissioner R.K. Mathur has directed the PRIme Minister’s Office to reveal information on the reasons behind the...