-The Hindu Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agroecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agroecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, farmers’ groups and several NGOs. It is therefore surprising that...

-The Hindu A Parliament Budget Office can help drive smarter, more focused debate in the media and with the electorate When most people arrive at the ballot box, they vote with their gut. But getting there requires absorbing and shaping months and years of conversations, long-held opinions and ideally, hard facts and evidence. What is then important for our electorate and the representatives we vote for is that they have an independent, non-partisan...

-The Indian Express Net direct tax collections during April 1-September 15 grew just 5% to Rs 4.4 lakh crore — against year’s target 17.3%. This below-than-expected growth in direct tax collections will muddy the government’s fiscal math The impact of a slowing economy is showing up in government revenues with net direct tax collections in the first five-and-a-half months of 2019-20 making up just a third of the full-year target. Net direct...

-Hindustan Times An audit report by the accountant general has blamed lack of health policy to poor management of various government schemes for food, nutrition, sanitation, hygiene, health, education and overall welfare for AES deaths in Bihar. Bihar does not have a health policy and its Budget also does not focus on any specific area of attention in health sector despite the scourge of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) for over a...

-TheWire.in Both the Modi government and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are ignoring one crucial aspect of reviving the economy: raising effective demand. Only a few weeks ago, the central government was talking grandly about India reaching a $5-trillion economy and refusing to recognise the severe slowdown India is going through. (This is not such a grand ambition when compared with China, which is often portrayed as India’s competitor, because by 2025,...