-The Indian Express Pranab Mukherjee referred to the civil services as the one that find ways on how to put obstructions, how to find out excuses and not to move. Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said that bureaucracy is the biggest hurdle in development and need to be rectified. Delivering the concluding pART of his lecture series as a guest faculty for the “Public Policy for Inclusive Development of India” course...

-The Hindu Environment Ministry and inland waterways body differed on need for clearances India’s longest waterway project, one terminal of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week, was made possible only after a high-power Committee of Ministers and senior officials from multiple Ministries overruled the recommendations of experts appointed by the Environment Ministry. The latter had recommended public consultations and a full-fledged environment clearance, documents made available through...

-The Indian Express The request for information has consistently increased from just eight in the first six months of 2013 to 16,580 in the first half of 2018. While the Government has steadily decreased its requests for content to be taken off Facebook, there has been a surge in its requests for “information” and “user accounts”. Since 2015, there has been an estimated 63% increase in Facebook accounts in India and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The central government scheme to reimburse employers in the private sector 50% wages of the last 14 weeks of maternity leave will be funded by a Rs 400 crore allocation and is intended to counter the perception that extended maternity leave is deterring female employment. There will be a wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 a month for eligible women. On the status of the proposal, the...

-The Indian Express A balanced approach can reduce petrol price without affecting revenues. RBI mustn’t ARTificially shore up rupee The Brent crude oil price has changed from around $68/barrel in January to $70/barrel on November 9, touching a high of $86 on October 3. The rupee has also fallen from Rs 63.30 per US$ in January to Rs 70 on November 9. These fluctuations have created major policy problems for the...