-Maastricht University The Policy BRIef entitled 'The Key to Resolving Straw Burning: Farmers' expertise' was produced under the project Responsible Innovation in Biogas in India, which was funded by the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO) and executed at Maastricht University. In the BRIef, the researchers call for the following policy actions: * Establish comprehensive working groups to engage with issues of straw burning, air pollution, agricultural practices and industries. * Notably, expertise on...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A survey across 11 states in India by corruption watchdog Transparency International saw 45% of the respondents claim they paid a BRIbe at least once in the past year to get work done. The share was 43% in a similar survey last year. Nearly 37% of the 34,696 respondents felt corruption had increased, while 14% said it had gone down. Around 45% felt the situation was...

-The Pioneer Raipur: The Chhattisgarh State Civil Supplies Corporation’s (CGSCSC) distribution centre module is now implemented at 120 warehouses of 108 distribution centres in the State, officials informed. The stocks and sales figures of previous month of all the Fair Price Shops (FPSs) are entered into this module and the actual amount of PDS commodities to be issued to FPS is calculated by this web based software and delivery order and truck...

-Outlook Scary Bail-in clause in FRDI Bill cleared by the Union Cabinet in June 2017 allows banks to finance themselves using depositors money. Priding themselves for being 'cash-less' post demonetization last year, some Indians may come face to face with a horrific post-apocalyptic future where they could be deposit-less too. Yes, this could be a reality unless the government of the day removes the unholy 'bail-in' clause that theoretically allows beleaguered banks...

-The Hindu Deregulating bamboo production does not address the issue of building a transparently governed forest sector Governments everywhere tend to look for quick-fixes, overlooking complexities and ignoring the big picture. The move by the Centre to “de-regulate” bamboo production by amending the definition of “trees” under the Indian Forest Act (IFA), 1927, is a great example of this tendency. In November 2017, the Central government issued an ordinance whereby “bamboo” was...