Door-to-door and village-to-village surveys carried out by researchers of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana detected a total of 9,291 suicides that were committed by farmers in six districts of Punjab during the period from 2000 to 2018. Situated in the Malwa region of Punjab, which is known for cotton farming and the prevalence of cancer among its population, Sangrur (2,506) witnessed the highest number of...

-Hindustan Times Kerala recorded the highest number of major landslides in the country in the past seven years, the ministry of earth sciences informed Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Of the 3,782 landslides between 2015 and 2022 so far, 2,239 alone were reported in the southern state. This was followed by West Bengal that recorded 376 landslides, Jitendra Singh, minister for earth science and science and technology, informed the House. Singh shared the data...

-Scroll.in Experts say that this delay is impacting government schemes and programmes. The Union home ministry on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that India’s decennial census 2021 has been deferred till further orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. India’s first census was conducted in 1872. The census determines the country’s population, literacy rate, migration, and demographics like age, gender and marital status along with housing and economic activity, among other key factors. The...

-The Hindu The price surge in LPG cylinders has pushed consumers to lower the number of LPG refills with 5% of the PMUY beneficiaries refilling just once per year in FY22 The price of a 14.2 kg cylinder has skyrocketed to ₹1,053 in July 2022. Though a subsidy of ₹200 per cylinder was recently announced for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries, the subsidised rate of ₹853 is still double the amount...

-The Telegraph There is no mention of compliance with ‘good manufacturing practices’ or the need to make inspection reports public, leaving the process of regulation vague and dependent on whims of drug inspectors This month, the Union ministry of health published the draft new drugs, medical devices and cosmetics bill to replace the antiquated Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Yet, most of the draft bill appears to be a copy of the...