-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the persistent digital divide afflicting rural India owing to poor and insufficient internet connectivity. With the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech acknowledging the need ‘to complete’ internet connectivity to villages, there is a renewed vigour and interest in the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN)/BharatNet project. An important question to pose when translating policy to project is: when should...

ActionAid Association's (AAA) national level survey among people dependent on the informal economy during the third phase of the national lockdown towards the end of May 2020 (i.e. between May 14th and May 22nd, 2020) has documented the "nature and extent of the transitions in the lives and livelihoods of informal workers, including migrant workers, during the pandemic and provide[s] an insight into the precarity they experience and the coping...

-The Hindu Business Line Farm leaders pitch for public sector entity for efficient and transparent settlement The dominance of private insurers, their lack of adequate on-ground physical presence coupled with opacity in settlements are some factors that have not helped the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme take off on expected lines. With multiple gaps in the current crop insurance structure, experts have called for making crop insurance a basic right for...

-The Hindu Devising State-specific industrialisation strategies in coordination with the Centre will improve manufacturing Many think that in the aftermath of the pandemic, several manufacturing companies operating from China will relocate their businesses to other destinations, including India. Many American, Japanese, and South Korean companies based in China have initiated discussions with the Indian government to relocate their plants to India. Companies are expected to exit China due to three primary reasons....

-The Hindu Court was hearing a challenge to Maratha reservation law New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday was urged to set up a 11-judge Bench to reconsider its 50% cap on reservation. The push for it came while the court was hearing a challenge to the Maratha reservation law. A bunch of petitions contended that the law, which provides 12 to 13 per cent quota for the community in Maharashtra, breached the...