-Scroll.in Madhya Pradesh has added garlic to its price deficit payment scheme while Rajasthan has decided to procure the crop. Last year, Bunty Rawal planted garlic on six acres of his land in Khardabad village in Rajasthan’s Kota district. He reckoned it was a good decision. High quality garlic was selling for around Rs 12,000 a quintal at the time, he said. However, he managed to make only around Rs 5,000 as...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The UN report that has sought an independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir is the first-ever by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the state. It is titled "Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns...

-TheWire.in Pesticide poisoning is the leading method of suicide among both men and women in the country. It is also the method that is easiest to prevent – by banning and removing highly hazardous ones from agricultural practice through legislation. The ban on highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) currently being discussed in India will not only protect the environment and improve the public health but will also achieve another rarely acknowledged goal –...

-Hindustan Times Contractual in nature, the lateral entry of experts should not alarm civil services unions. At the same time, it must be ensured that the policy is not misused for political purposes. The government’s decision to recruit 10 senior bureaucrats through lateral entry is, in principle, a bold and long-overdue step. The Indian state apparatus suffers from three key deficiencies. Contrary to the widespread impression that it is bloated, the government...

-ThePrint.in DoPT ad for applications gets mixed reactions – some welcome the move but others are apprehensive, say may increase scope for political appointments New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to allow private sector specialists a lateral entry to the crucial joint secretary position in at least 10 ministries and departments, a first-of-its-kind move that has evoked mixed reactions from bureaucrats and politicians. The position of joint secretary has traditionally been...