-Down to Earth For every million rupees spent on agricultural research, 328 people are pulled out of poverty. In contrast, the same amount spent on power subsidies brings only 23 people come out of poverty. The message is clear. With the Union elections only a few months away, the Centre should prioritise capital investments over populist subsidies to deliver on its promise of strengthening the farm sector. This is important, especially when the...

-Livemint.com The problem escalated due to the Government’s focus on infrastructure during 2002-09, especially with the efforts made to promote public-private partnerships The past two years or so have seen rapidly increasing stress in the Indian banking sector, with non-performing assets (NPAs) steadily climbing from under 3% to over 13% of total assets. Loan-loss provisioning for NPAs has seriously eroded the capital base of several banks, limiting their ability to make further...

-TheWire.in To mark one year since the death of 11-year-old Santoshi Kumari in Jharkhand, activists have released a list of hunger-related deaths in India since 2015. New Delhi: A year after the ‘starvation’ death of an 11-year-old girl, Santoshi Kumari, in Jharkhand’s Simdega district, activists have compiled a list of 56 alleged hunger-related deaths since 2015 across the country, of which 42 were in 2017 and 2018. Kumari’s death led to a spate...

-The Hindu 198 existing dams in seven States will benefit The Government has approved a 65% hike, and extended by two years, a project to improve the stability and working of dams in 11 States. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Dam Rehabilitation Improvement Project (DRIP) project on Wednesday. Out of the Rs.3,466 crore cleared, Rs. 2,628 crore would be funded by the...

-The Hindu The debate on privatising higher education must be founded on the role of such institutions in developing a democratic and inclusive society. Motihari University, Manipur University, Hyderabad Central University, Jawaharlal Nehru University — these names have become shorthand for a set of problems that get framed differently depending on who does the analysis. The list of campuses of public-funded higher education institutions where anger is simmering or has flared up...