-Networkideas.org The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent war sparked rapid and dramatic increases in some global trade prices, particularly for fuel products, wheat and fertilizer for which Russia and Ukraine are major exporters. It is now clear that these price changes were not due to actual changes in total supply, which remained largely unchanged (although source locations and trade routes shifted). Instead, market expectations amplified by media hype, financial...

-The Telegraph Committee asks govt to take steps to strengthen radiotherapy facilities in the country, expressing concerns about inadequate infrastructure A parliamentary panel has asked the Centre to provide free cancer treatment to middle-class households through a government-funded health insurance scheme and to cap cancer diagnostics and treatment services in government and private hospitals. The parliamentary standing committee on health has also called on the government to take steps to strengthen radiotherapy facilities...

-The Hindu What is the trigger for the current conflict? Why did the Supreme Court strike down the law on National Judicial Appointments? What is the government’s grouse against the Collegium system? What is the new CJI planning?  The story so far: A major confrontation is on between the Union government and the Supreme Court over the former’s resentment towards the Collegium system of appointments and its push to have a dominant...

-Hindustan Times The total cultivated area under wheat, the main winter staple currently in short supply, jumped 25% as on November 10, compared to the corresponding period of last year, latest official data showed, boosting hopes of a bumper 2022-23 crop. Acreages of most rabi or winter-sown crops stand higher than last year, the farm ministry’s data showed. However, a warmer-than-average winter so far remains a concern for farmers because wheat needs...

-The Hindu Only 819 hostels — 391 for girls and 271 for boys — have been sanctioned since the BJRCY scheme’s revision in 2007, against the target of constructing one each in every Block headquarters of low literacy districts  The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Social Justice and Empowerment on Monday flayed the Union government over 46 years of missing data for the Central scheme to construct hostels for Scheduled Caste boys...