-The Indian Express RSF mentions that government was using prosecutions to “gag journalists who are overly critical” of it, invoking, among other sections, sedition charges, which are punishable by a life-term in jail. New Delhi: On the account of “deadly threat” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “nationalism”, India has slipped down two ranks compared to last year in the Reporter’s Without Border’s (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF) World Press Freedom Index 2018....

-The Economic Times New Delhi: The Agriculture ministry is targeting record foodgrain output of 283.7 million tonnes in the crop year beginning July, with 140.20 million tonnes Targeted for the kharif (summer-sown) crop, on expectation of normal rains during the June-September monsoon season. “The weather office forecast of normal monsoon this year is good news for kharif planting and farmers,” Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said. He said the government was working...

-Down to Earth Waste pickers recycle almost 20 per cent of India's wastes. Yet they are unrecognised, face discrimination and are not entitled to government schemes India produces about 5.31 million tonnes of waste each year and is facing an unprecedented solid waste management crisis. Coupled with an upward trend in industrialisation, rural migration, spending and an increasing propensity for capitalist consumption, the amount of waste generated in India will continue...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A group of 637 academics from India and abroad have come out in solidarity with the 49 retired civil servants who recently expressed their outrage at the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for belatedly speaking up on the issue and claiming his dispensation wasn’t doing enough to stop the “pattern of repeated Targeted attacks on minority religious communities, Dalits, tribals...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Chana farmers stand to lose Rs 6,170 crore as they have not received the government assured minimum support price (MSP) for a good chunk of their crop, according to the ‘loot calculator’ of Jai Kisan Andolan (JKA), a movement which works for farmers’ rights. The Andolan, launched by Yogendra Yadav founded Swaraj Abhiyan, has gleaned this crop of data based on an expected production of 1,110 lakh quintals...