-TheWire.in The health ministry – which has been thrust into spotlight even more than usual due to the unprecedented crisis of the pandemic – missed some significant deadlines. New Delhi: When the Narendra-Modi led Union government marked eight years in office in May, its various ministries launched a veritable social media blitzkrieg to highlight achievements. Among them was the health and family welfare ministry – one that has had particular reason to...

Every year in the month of either February or March, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) announces the notified MGNREGA wage rates (i.e., notified daily wage rates for MGNREGA workers) for various states and Union Territories (UTs) for the upcoming financial year. The MGNREGA rates are notified every year based on the increase in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). Like the previous years, in 2021 too, experts and civil...

-Down to Earth There is a widespread availability of inferior quality as well as spurious biofertiliser and organic fertiliser products across the country The availability, quality and uptake of biofertilisers and organic fertilisers in India is poor, flagged a new report. These non-chemical options are considered critical to the transition from chemical-based to sustainable farming practices like organic and natural farming. The availability of cost-effective quality biofertilisers and organic fertilisers is, therefore, of...

-Deccan Herald Despite such systems, generation after generation, these deprived communities pay the price for the progress of other segments of society It’s happened again. Nearly Rs 8,000 crore, earmarked by law for the development of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in Karnataka, have been diverted for general infrastructure development since 2018. In Delhi, citizens’ RTI interventions exposed the government’s decision to deploy such funds to build stadiums for the 2010...

-Livemint.com A revision in nutrient-based subsidy rates is crucial to sustain credit profiles of fertiliser makers, Crisil said New Delhi: The central government’s fertilizer subsidy outgo could touch an all-time high of ₹1.65 trillion in FY23, against the budgeted ₹1.05 trillion, due to an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials and prices of fertilizers globally, rating agency Crisil said on Thursday. A revision in nutrient-based subsidy rates is crucial to sustain...