-The Indian Express Agriculture Ministry’s harvest estimates don’t square with drought conditions in several cases, raise serious questions of credibility. We have had two consecutive drought years, yet India’s milk production, according to the Agriculture Ministry, has risen from 137.69 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14 to 146.31 mt in 2014-15 and 160.35 mt in 2015-16. Never before has the country’s milk output grown at these rates — that too, in the face...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Leave of up to 90 days granted to women central government employees who have filed complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace could be in addition to leave they are otherwise entitled to, a circular issued yesterday suggests. Under Section 12, 1(D), of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, a woman employee has the option of taking leave up to 90...

-The Hindu The Maharashtra government’s decision to promulgate an ordinance this week to exempt farmers from having to mandatorily sell their fruit and vegetable crop at mandis governed by a 1963 law on marketing farm produce, is a bold and laudable step. That Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stood his ground against the powerful lobby of middlemen, who shut shop in protest, is even more commendable. The problem with the present...

-The Indian Express Government committee must work out a sustainable policy framework to address scarcity and inflation in pulses The government’s decision to form a panel headed by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian to study and suggest ways to contain the rising prices of pulses is a welcome move. The committee is expected to frame a long-term policy, which will look into various aspects, including the MSP (minimum support price) and bonus...

It was a Rashomon moment for the readers of the First Common Review Mission report when they heard activists complaining about the pension system of Rajasthan during a recent press conference held in the capital. The First Common Review Mission (CRM) report, which was prepared during the month of May this year by a team of 32 experts had observed that pension related payments under the National Social Assistance Programmes (NSAP)...