The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...

-The Hindu Admitting that annuities now fetch paltry pensions, regulator says investors can withdraw the corpus The National Pension System (NPS) will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity, as poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translating into negative returns, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman, Supratim Bandyopadhyay, said on Thursday. The regulator will issue fresh rules to soon allow...

-The Statesman NIKHIL DEY is one of the founding members of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). Since 1990, he has been a full-time MKSS activist and a member of the organisation’s decision-making collective. A leading social activist, Dey has always been involved in grassroots struggles for land and payment of minimum wages. He has also been part of the organisation’s involvement in some groundbreaking campaigns such as people’s Right to Information...

-Frontline.in Senior advocate Rebecca Mammen John on how the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Investigation Agency are being “weaponised” against Indians who hold a different viewpoint from the government. Rebecca Mammen John, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, believes that a larger public debate, along with consistent judicial interventions, is the need of the hour if the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is to be removed from...

-Financial Express While wheat prices may firm up once the official procurement begins in all the producing states, the government will have to implement a robust procurement system for other crops to support the prices fetched by farmers. Mandi prices of most rabi crops ruled below their minimum support prices (MSPs) during the last month, even as more than half of the winter crop has been harvested (see chart). While wheat prices...