-The Indian Express This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”. India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital...

-The Indian Express India’s employment crisis calls for more government expenditure in education, adequate training. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his recent Independence Day speech, said, “We need to worry about population explosion”. These words stand in stark contrast to his previous references to India’s demographic dividend where the country’s population was seen as an asset. This shift reflects a new awareness, according to which demography brings a dividend only if...

-Press release by Common Cause dated 27th August, 2019     New Delhi, August 27, 2019: Common Cause and Lokniti Programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), launched the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2019 on the tough working conditions of the police in India at the India International Centre today. The release was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Indian Police and the Rule of...

-Livemint.com * The population explosion has major impacts on the country ranging from health, social, environmental and economic * Gender preferences are also contributing to the population explosion in India New Delhi: Pointing out population growth as a major concern in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech called for a deeper thought towards the issue. Apparently, the mention was an indication that the government is devising a policy or...

-The Times of India Manisha Verma, principal secretary, tribal development department, Maharashtra talks to Sugandha Indulkar about The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and related issues, with today being World Tribal Day. * What’s the precise positioning of the tribal welfare departments at the Centre and states on FRA? This is a seminal legislation. The preamble to the Act itself states that it aims...