-The Wire Science * Many regions in India, including the north and the centre, are currently reporting hotter weather thanks to heat waves. * The IMD has forecast ‘severe’ heat wave conditions for the next three days over parts of Rajasthan. Heat waves will also prevail over areas of Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana. * According to the government, the IMD’s predictive power to forecast heatwaves has increased significantly over the years. Kochi: Many...

In the absence of income or expenditure-based headcount ratio, the growth in the real wages (i.e., nominal wages adjusted against retail inflation) of the manual workers is considered to be a good proxy to assess the trends in poverty. This is because the manual, unskilled/ semi-skilled labourers exist at the bottom of the pyramid or economic hierarchy, and most of them belong to the social categories Scheduled Castes (SCs) and...

-The Hindu Ensure that the grievances are redressed at the initial level itself, says Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Jaiipur: Amid the demand for an early tabling of the Transparency and Social Accountability Bill in the Assembly, the Congress government in Rajasthan has decided to strengthen the public hearing system in the village panchayats for a prompt redressal of grievances. Activists have been staging an indefinite “jawabdehi dharna” on the issue at the...

-Hindustan Times The Rajasthan Government’s announcement not only created a buzz in other states but also became a subject of discussion across the country, especially in states where elections are either underway or due shortly. JAIPUR: Chhattisgarh is set to reintroduce the old pension scheme for government employees that provides an assured pension after retirement, party leaders said on Sunday. Chhattisgarh will be the second state to revert to the old pension...

-Deccan Herald The life expectancy for Dalits and Adivasis is similar to those of the poorest countries in the world The life expectancies of Adivasis and Dalits in India are significantly lower than upper-caste Hindus, a new study reported using decade-old government data on 20 million individuals from nine states. The life expectancy differences of more than four years in Adivasis, three years in Dalits and one year among Muslims as against upper-caste...