-Livemint.com We do need reforms to make farming remunerative again but it will take a truly participatory effort On 19 November, in a sudden announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of three contentious farm laws passed by Parliament last September. And they were repealed on the very first day that the House convened for its winter session. Like the way they were passed last year, the repeal was also done...

-The Hindu Public choice refers to an economic approach towards the study of politics. American Nobel laureate James Buchanan, a prominent member of the Virginia school of political economy, characterised the public choice approach to politics as the study of “politics without romance.” Public choice theorists assume that politicians and bureaucrats who run the Government of a country are self-interested individuals who primarily look after their own selfish interests. This is in...

-PTI/ NDTV.com Between 2007-08 to 2013-14, 6,19,027 posts were filled by three major recruiting agencies, the Staff Selection Commission, Union Public Service Commission, and the Railway Recruitment Board, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said. New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said the Centre has recruited around 6.98 lakh employees for its various departments since 2014 as against 6.19 lakh in the previous seven years of the UPA Government. In response to supplementary...

-The Hindu Business Line Farmers say the schemes do not reach them and cost of farming is only rising The Government of India facilitates State Governments to reduce agricultural costs through many Centrally-sponsored and Central-sector schemes. However, the latest data available for six major schemes for the last five years show that the actual expenditure on these schemes has remained low compared to Budget estimates. Farmers have been complaining that the schemes are...

-Down to Earth From floodplain identification to flood hazard map to availability of rain gauges, CAG report points out shortcomings in Kerala’s flood response Could poor response on part of the Kerala Government have caused the massive floods of 2018 in the state? A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed at severe lapses on the part of the Government in planning, capacity building, flood forecasting and dam...