-PTI Their pear and apple harvest rotting, RATion and cash running out — people in several parts of Kashmir are facing financial hardships due to the ongoing shutdown in major parts of the Valley, say three panchayat members from the region. Hailing from Anantnag district of south Kashmir, Talib Hussain, along with fellow panchayat member Iqbal Ahmed and Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, said they were in the national capital to let the...

-The Hindu The agenda to set up a development bank is a welcome initiative, but questions remain on its design Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference on August 23, announcing a slew of measures to boost the economy and financial market sentiments, had an interesting idea. It was about setting up a development bank. Ms. Sitharaman said: “In order to improve access to long-term finance, it is proposed to establish an organisation to...

-IndiaSpend.com Mumbai: Kerala ranked first out of seven states for migrant friendly policies on the Interstate Migrant Policy Index 2019 (IMPEX 2019), an index compiled by India MigRATion Now, a Mumbai-based nonprofit, which analyses state-level policies for the integRATion of out-of-state migrants. Maharashtra ranked second with a score of 42 out of 100 compared to Kerala’s 62, and Punjab came in third with a score of 40. Internal migRATion, both within a...

-Livemint.com The institutional bias against Muslims in our police force needs to be corrected urgently. Police personnel must be made to undergo sensitization courses A sample survey of attitudes does not offer an accuRATe map of anyone’s mind. Yet, responses to questions do point to people’s underlying motivations, biases, beliefs and justifications for these. According to a recent survey, every second policeman believes that Indian Muslims are “naturally prone" to crime. Perhaps...

-TheWire.in Instead of giving freebies to the affluent, Sitharaman should have announced additional government spending in MNREGA and plans for filling vacancies in government jobs. After holding out for seven weeks, following her maiden budget, Nirmala Sitharaman finally blinked. For about a month now, pink papers and business-friendly pundits had been crying foul about India Inc’s shrinking sales. But, since you can’t sell a sob story about the rich, it was spun to...