-Down to Earth For every million rupees spent on agricultural research, 328 people are pulled out of poverty. In contrast, the same amount spent on power subsidies brings only 23 people come out of poverty. The message is clear. With the Union elections only a few months away, the Centre should prioritise capital investments over populist subsidies to deliver on its promise of strengthening the farm sector. This is Important, especially when the...

-The Indian Express It is Important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...

-The Hindu As the job market is tight for those with PhDs in science, it is Important that they develop other skill sets The number of PhD graduates has proliferated over the decades — while there were only a dozen doctorates till 1920 in India (the first was awarded in 1904), there were 24,000 in all disciplines from about 900 institutions in 2017. While the number may not be surprising, what is...

-The Hindu The new law has safeguards, including bail to the accused before the start of trial New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared an ordinance that makes talaq-e-biddat, or instant triple talaq, a criminal offence that will attract a maximum jail term of three years. President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day gave his assent. The new law, however, incorporates safeguards, including a provision for bail to an accused before...

-Caravan Magazine On 9 September 2018, five sanitation workers died due to inhalation of toxic fumes while cleaning a sewage tank in West Delhi. Several media reports regarding the incident noted that the men did not have any safety gear, indicating that the unavailability of equipment led to their death. The police reportedly registered a case against theengineer who was in charge of managing the sewage tank,under Sections 304 and 304A...