-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...

-The Telegraph Centre hikes pay, still trails many states New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday decided to increase the honorarium the Centre pays anganwadi workers and accredited social health activists besides those working as auxiliary nurse midwives in a move trade unions saw as an election-eve sop to cap brewing discontent. The unions have been demanding the regularisation of these workers and helpers who last got a hike in 2011. State governments...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The total number of buses available for transporting general passengers is less than one-tenth of the requirement, posing an enormous logistical challenge. According to government data, there are about 19 lakh buses in the country and only 2.8 lakh of them are run either by state transport undertakings or under stage carriage permits. "We need about 30 lakh buses to meet the requirement of general passengers....

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's state governments often set their minimum wages lower than the recommended national minimum wage, decided by the Union labour ministry, a report by the International Labour Organisation has said. It has added that the minimum wages often show large inter-state variations, unrelated to the cost of living, for the same kind of job. This is because the Minimum Wages Act of 1948 does not say on what...

-The Indian Express This data was revealed during inter-ministerial consultations for issuing an ordinance to overturn the circular and the court order that treats departments/ subjects as a unit for implementing reservation, instead of taking the university/ college as a whole. New Delhi: OF THE 700-odd vacancies for teaching posts generated across several universities since the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) March 2018 circular on a new formula for reservation, only 2.5 per...