-Business Standard Social security scheme should reach the Poor and underprivileged, says official The Centre will bar income taxpayers from availing themselves of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from October 1 this year to ensure that the scheme’s benefits reach the Poor and underprivileged. Atal Pension Yojana, launched in 2015, is a social security scheme for citizens aged 18 to 40. Subscribers, based on their contributions, get a guaranteed monthly pension of Rs...

-The Telegraph Jail and racetrack on beach bully list New Delhi: An audit has identified dozens of public and private projects that have breached India’s coastal regulations — beach resorts, ports, roads, a racetrack, and even a jail near an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. The exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged deficiencies in the Union environment ministry’s project approval mechanisms and lapses by state coastal regulatory authorities that...

-Down to Earth Zero funds to Bengal, Lakshadweep this year, Centre admits in Parliament; activists ask to use pre-existing mechanisms to handle graft Millions of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have not received wages for months. Workers from West Bengal are especially affected, with 13.2 million people unpaid for seven months.  Bengal is the only state that received no funds under the 100-day work scheme in...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre should pay attention to fertiliser subsidy which is overshooting estimates by unacceptably large margins The economic crisis in India’s South Asian neighbours has turned the spotlight on fiscal profligacy leading economies on the path to ruin. While this has sparked debate on our States doling out freebies and subsidies, the fact is that the Centre too has some soul-searching to do on this front. Even as...

-Moneycontrol.com Not only population, but several other factors affect the food system, including climate risks and their impact. An IPCC report predicts up to 30 percent decline in rice yields if global temperatures continue to rise India, a country with just 2.4 percent of the world’s total land area, is the largest producer of milk and pulses, and the second largest producer of rice and wheat, as per the United Nations’ Food...