-The Hindu Business Line NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday indicated that there has been progress in the efforts to empower States to compete and improve on the basis of governance. “If States have to derive democratic dividends, the only way is to facilitate them to compete with each on the basis of good governance. There is good news that States in the country are beginning to take NITI Aayog’s rankings...

-Livemint.com Opposition to the citizenship amendment bill stems from fears that it will give legitimacy to illegal migrants in India. ‘Mint’ decodes the controversy surrounding the bill The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, has led to protests in the North-East after its passage in the Lok Sabha last week. Opposition to the bill stems from fears that it will give legitimacy to illegal migrants in India. Mint decodes the controversy surrounding the bill. *...

-The Indian Express It would have made more sense — economically, legally, politically, morally, constitutionally — to have limited 10 per cent EWS reservation to those with farming or rural backgrounds The last few years have seen the so-called dominant farming communities — especially the Jats, Marathas, Patidars and Kapus — mount violent agitations demanding quotas in government jobs and higher educational institutions, whether under the OBC (Other Backward Class) or...

-The Hindu In case of loan in both cooperative and commercial banks, the former qualifies for waiver Bengaluru: The intensive de-duplication work to identity farmers eligible for loan waiver is expected to identify at least 7 lakh people who have loans in both cooperative sector and commercial banks, resulting in saving of at least Rs.6,000 crore to the State exchequer. A farmer will be eligible for loan waiver from one of the...

-News18.com Acclaimed journalist and Founder-Editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India, P Sainath attributes the existential crisis confronting India’s agrarian society to macro-economic policies set in motion 25 years ago. Talking to Anuradha SenGupta, Sainath makes a case for state intervention in agriculture and says the Modi government, with its shifting positions and policies like demonetisation has only aggravated the assault on agrarian livelihoods. Dismissing the buzz about imminent new initiatives...