-The Indian Express It is necessary to rescue public policy from its elitist bias, bring agriculture to its centre There is seldom any Independence Day speech where the prime minister, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, does not thank the jawans and kisans for their heroic role in securing our borders and ensuring food security. This year is unlikely to be different. Recall Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan, “Jai Jawan,...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday came down heavily on the Delhi government for pollution in the Capital and underreporting the number of trucks that enter Delhi. “The Centre says old diesel vehicles do not cause pollution, the Delhi government says vehicles from outside do not cause pollution either. Something must be wrong somewhere,” the bench stated after the Delhi government said that only 41 of 759...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India is often dubbed as the hub of human trafficking in Asia, especially those of children and young women for slavery and prostitution. Now for the first time, the government is bringing together all states, enforcement and intelligence agencies, paramilitary forces engaged in border areas in the eastern region, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss a solution to end the menace. Over 600 officers from Centre/states...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday joined the long battle for improving the Capital's notoriously bad air quality by getting Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to commit to a three-month action plan to curb pollution in the National Capital Region. All four states agreed to take time-bound steps to address the problem and come out with a joint medium and long term strategy in July. Under the plan,...

-The Indian Express The budget aims at economic growth and social protection. This is welcome. So are provisions for financial inclusion, housing, water, sanitation and rural electrification. But there are also substantial cuts in crucial social sectors and key omissions that are likely to undermine its stated economic objectives. Consider agriculture, environment and women. First, double-digit growth or poverty reduction is unlikely without strong, sustained agricultural growth. In 2014-15, agriculture grew at...