-The Telegraph Citizens’ participation in policy-making is an important factor in assessing the quality of democracy Within five days of the announcement of Agnipath, the scheme had been amended 10 times, raising the larger question concerning consultation in policy-making. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government has taken a number of policy decisions without public consultation — from demonetisation, which saw 60 changes in 43 days, to GST, which has been...

-The Tribune The next food system transformation has to be based on diversity and building on food sovereignty. The future global food system has to be back in the hands of 3.6 billion peasants, small farmers, pastoralists and fishermen where biodiversity protection, income security and climate justice go hand in hand. SOME years back, a study by the University of Sussex (UK) showed a dramatic decline in insect population within a nature...

Contrary to the rising economic distress on the ground since the last few years, the official press release related to the fourth Annual Report on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) at first glance seems to give a rosy picture about the employment situation in India.  Defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the unemployment rate in usual status (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status)...

-Deccan Herald The triumvirate of structural, cyclical and policy implementation challenges all have a role to play in this undesirable outcome While India’s unemployment challenge has assumed a worrying proportion and is now being looked at as the most important headwind for the prospect of post-pandemic economic recovery, it was a long time in the making. The triumvirate of structural, cyclical and policy implementation challenges all have a role to play in this...

-PTI/ NDTV.com The ministry also said that the recent changes in India's rice export rules "have helped keep a check on domestic prices" without reducing the availability for exports. New Delhi: Domestic rice prices are showing an upward trend and it "may continue to increase" due to low kharif production forecast and 11 per cent jump in export of non-basmati rice, the food ministry said today. The statement was made in the fact...