-The Hindu Business Line The government must simplify and rationalise GST, kickstart rural consumption, revive agriculture and tackle the lack of credit for capital creation, says former PM Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an eminent economist himself, feels that the Narendra Modi-led government needs to come out of its habit of headline management and address the economic challenges which the country is facing today. “We cannot afford to deny that India is facing...

-The Indian Express Addressing the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned that India was "focusing on Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)". In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala SITharaman had spoken of the need to “go back to basics”, and to “replicate this innovative model (that) can help in doubling our farmers’ income”. The National Academy of...

-The Hindu The world SITs up and takes notice when surplus food feeds the hungry, instead of ending up in the bin, say volunteers of No Food Waste How often do we think of surplus food that has gone untouched at a wedding banquet, restaurant or office canteen. What happens to the leftovers? Coimbatore resident G Padmanabhan and his friends Sudhakar Mohan and N Balaji began No Food Waste (NFW) in 2014 with...

-The Indian Express This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”. India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital...

-The Hindu Michelle Bachelet also asked India to ensure that the National Register of Citizens verification in Assam does not leave the people Stateless Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council urged India on Monday to end the lockdown in Kashmir and restore basic communications services. Delivering the Opening Statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet noted the SITuation in Kashmir and Assam, where lakhs have been excluded from the National...