-The Hindu Allow more flexibility at the ground level, says internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development An internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development has argued for decentralisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), allowing for more “flexibility” at the ground level.  The Ministry recently made public the report of the sixth Common Review Mission which surveyed seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,...

--Press release by National Coalition on the Education Emergency dated 31st October, 2022 More than 12 organisations and several individuals were part of a national consultation where issues faced by migrant children were discussed and actionable recommendations were proposed.  Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi, October 31, 2022: Not-for-profit organisations and civil society institutions have demanded that migrant children be provided the right to quality education immediately and have proposed an actionable framework...

-Down to Earth Experts welcome move but call for a complete ban The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare issued a notice October 21, 2022 restricting the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, citing health hazards for humans and animals. Only authorised Pest Control Operators are allowed to use it.  Earlier, state governments of Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh have tried similar steps but failed. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India...

-Deccan Herald India scored 29.1 in the 2022 GHI; the index categorises scores between 20 and 34.9 as denoting a 'serious' level of hunger There is something familiarly disquieting about the manner in which the Union Government has discounted India’s low ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI), released earlier this month. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in an official response, said that the methodology used in the peer-reviewed report,...

-The Telegraph A pan India survey of media consumption by the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, compiled on the basis of responses from 19 states elicits answer The post-truth era is, expectedly, marked by a discerning erosion of public trust in sources of information. Mass media — both traditional and new-age avatars — has borne the brunt of this mistrust. And for good reasons too. Social...