-The Hindu GST Act allows change in formula, Ajay Bhushan Pandey tells Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by BJP MP Jayant Sinha, at a meeting on Tuesday that the government is in no position to pay the GST share of States as per the current revenue sharing formula, sources said. According to at least two members who attended the meeting,...

-The Indian Express A well-educated woman’s chances of making informed decisions and exercising greater agency in the household is monumental in breaking the cycle of poverty, ill health, as well as malnutrition. India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) stands at 122 as per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin from last year — a significant decline from an MMR of 556 in 1990. A parallel decrease in the prevalence of child marriage...

-The Hindu Even millions who are above the poverty line do not have access to healthy or nutritious food in India New analysis from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that hundreds of millions of people in India above the international poverty line of $1.90 purchasing power parity (PPP) per person per day cannot afford a healthy or nutritious diet. This analysis confirms the fact that the problem of poor nutrition...

-The Indian Express Bihar has about 75,000 government schools with about THRee crore students. Nayagaon (Begusarai): Nishu Kumari, a Class IX student at a government-run school, is studying with her brother Nirbhay, a Class VII student and cousin Arpit, a Class I student. Their grandfather Bhagirath Singh is keeping a watch on them as the THRee have to finish their homework before private tutor Subodh Singh arrives. Nishu’s father Shivjyoti Kumar, a farmer,...

-Down to Earth The ordinance does not expressly define ‘extraordinary circumstances’: Such legislative ambiguity makes one question the entire exercise of introducing this particular provision As the Union government announced massive reforms as part of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief package, attention went to THRee agriculture sector ordinances related to farmers’ trade, contract farming and amendments in the Essential Commodities Act. While each of the THRee ordinances have far-reaching implications from legal...