-Economic and Political Weekly The public distribution system is the cornerstone of anti-poverty initiatives in India to address the issue of hunger and malnutrition, but is plagued with leakages and corruption. Though several possible reasons account for these problems, one factor that is generally overlooked is the lack of assessment of the preference of the beneficiaries in terms of product portfolio, selection, and delivery mechanisms. Through a mixed methods analysis across...

-The Indian Express Latest NCRB report introduces categories for cyber crimes against women, cases of insult under SC/ST Act, duration of delay in closing police & court cases ON MONDAY, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the much delayed crime data for 2017. While it was without some crucial data categories, the data included were more fleshed out than in the 2016 crime report. The NCRB has introduced more than three...

-The Hindu Business Line Noted Gandhian economist Dr Sudarshan Iyengar surveys the distressed agricultural landscape, pinpoints its weaknesses, and prescribes solutions with their roots in Gandhian agronomics. Edited excerpts from an interview to BusinessLine: * Given the agrarian crisis in India today, how relevant are Gandhi's economic principles based on the village economy, and equitable distribution of resources? They are relevant in the context of Gandhi's view of gram swaraj (village self-rule), which...

-Hindustan Times The Constitution promises religion-neutral citizenship. NRC and its fallout could upend that The controversy unfolding in Assam over the National Register of Citizens (NRC), published on August 31, has brought to the fore important fault lines in the construction of citizenship in contemporary India. In particular, it places the spotlight on the role of key institutional actors – the bureaucracy and judiciary – in adjudicating citizenship. Crucially, the implementation of...

-The New Indian Express In his complaint, the block education officer had alleged that Pawan Kumar Jaiswal deliberately shot the video doing 'despicable work' of maligning the image of the state government. LUCKNOW:  More than a week after a video went viral showing some students in Mirzapur district being served ‘roti’ with salt in mid-day meal, the district administration has booked the journalist along with two others for allegedly doing ‘despicable work’...