-TheWire.in The agitation, which was called off recently, shows how lakhs of women across India engaged in providing essential services have been neglected for years, with no end in sight for their troubles. Slogans of “Pakka kaam kacchi naukri nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi (being called an honorary worker while doing the job of a permanent employee is unacceptable to us)” and “Beti padhao, beti bachao- ka nara jhuta hai (educate your daughter,...

-Livemint.com A revision in nutrient-based subsidy rates is crucial to sustain credit profiles of fertiliser makers, Crisil said New Delhi: The central Government’s fertilizer subsidy outgo could touch an all-time high of ₹1.65 trillion in FY23, against the budgeted ₹1.05 trillion, due to an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials and prices of fertilizers globally, rating agency Crisil said on Thursday. A revision in nutrient-based subsidy rates is crucial to sustain...

-TheWire.in The wholesale price inflation for wheat in March was 14%. The retail prices will, therefore, reflect the same once the peak arrival season is over, in June 2022. Even the critics of India’s public distribution system (PDS) acknowledge that it worked well during the Covid-19 pandemic. Additional allocations of free food grains at 5 kg per person per month, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), helped prevent mass hunger...

-Centre for Science and Environment It is becoming clearer by the day that chemical fertilizers are not a sustainable solution to the problem of depletion of soil nutrients as a result of agriculture, particularly crop production. Biofertilizers and organic fertilizers not only provide nutrients to crops, they also help in restoring soil health and ecological balance. As we (re)discover the power and potential of biofertilizers and organic fertilizers, we need to...

-The Hindu State Governments were facing a shortage of Rs.9,682 crores as on November 26, 2021, says advocate Prashant Bhushan. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list an application mentioned urgently by advocate Prashant Bhushan highlighting a "grave crisis" concerning crores of rural poor who were not getting their wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) even as the COVID-19 pandemic had driven them to the brink...