-Down to Earth A report shows drought-like situation in over 700 blocks of 91 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar & West Bengal A severe deficit in the rainfall during monsoon 2022 has affected Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. However, state governments have shied away from declaring a drought in the states even though Kharif-sowing was badly hit. Uttar Pradesh government directed a drought survey in all its districts September 8,...

-The Telegraph Experts say government measures facilitate supply of poor quality equipment and threaten to hobble country’s research efforts The Narendra Modi government’s Make-in-India campaign and e-marketplace initiative have stirred frustration among scientists who say these measures facilitate the supply of poor quality equipment and threaten to hobble the country’s research efforts. The Make-in-India campaign embedded in the Government-e-marketplace (GeM), a portal for online procurement, appears to have ignored the realities of India’s...

-ThePrint.in Panchayats or local elected governments are supposed to lead socio-economic development but they have no funds to spend as per needs. The growing political importance of ‘good governance’ in politics today brings the focus back on India’s chronic implementation failure problem. It pervades all development sectors like education, health care, law enforcement and infrastructure, but our understanding of what causes these failures is imperfect.  In fact, ‘implementation failure’ is embedded in the...

-ThePrint.in Twenty per cent export tax on several varieties of rice. 'Circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action', says revenue dept notification. New Delhi: India, the world’s largest exporter of rice, Thursday imposed a 20 per cent export tax on several varieties of rice in a bid to tame domestic prices. According to a notification issued by the department of revenue, all export of paddy (unmilled rice), brown rice and...

-The Hindu Job creation, equitable distribution of wealth, growth are key priorities, says Union Finance Minister Inflation is not a ‘red-lettered’ priority now for the government given that it has been brought down to a ‘manageable level’ over the past two months and job creation and equitable distribution of wealth were instead the key priorities as of now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.  “I am not sure I can have the...