-PTI Earlier in July, the Centre changed the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission and mandated the panel to suggest ways for allocation of non-lapsable funds for defence and internal security. New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the government should have taken chief ministers' views before changing the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission, adding that unilateralism is not good for federal policy and...

-The Indian Express This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”. India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital...

-The Telegraph Kerala surpassed other states in access to good healthcare, nutrition and quality education New Delhi: A report on child well-being in India rated Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh as the best states. The report released last week covered most of the major aspects of child well-being, health, nutrition, education and protection. The India Child Well-Being report by World Vision India, a humanitarian organisation, and IFMR LEAD, a non-profit research organisation,...

-PTI New Delhi: State governments need to capitalise their credit institutions to get access to long-term finance and have better control over their credit flow, a NITI AAYog official said. The states have no control over the long-term finance right now, but nobody is stopping them from recapitalising finance corporations which will allow them to on-lend at attractive rates to entrepreneurs, NITI AAYog Special Secretary Yaduvendra Mathur said. “States can’t just wait that...

-Livemint.com The government’s prognosis overlooks the rural stress that is at the heart of the economy’s troubles Last week saw a flurry of activity from the government aimed at reviving the economy. So far, it was in denial, but it has now woken up to the economic crisis that is spreading like wildfire. The vice-chairperson of NITI AAYog termed the crisis the worst since independence. Several members of the economic advisory council...