-Newsclick.in “According to media reports, the proposed amendments seek to fundamentally weaken the institution of the information commissions by allowing the central and state governments to decide salaries of commissioners,” says NCPRI Press Release. Among the bills listed under the ‘Legislative Business’ to be carried out during the monsoon session of Lok Sabha,which will be held from July 18 to August 10, is ‘The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018’. Although included...

-ThePrint.in The Financial Sector Reforms and Legislation Division has agreed with the EC’s view, which is that the new laws are ‘retrograde’ and need to be withdrawn. New Delhi: The Election Commission’s concerns over the transparency of electoral bonds, introduced via the Finance Act, 2017, have been supported by the Financial Sector Reforms and Legislation Division of the finance ministry. According to an RTI filed by activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd), an official...

-The Indian Express Many BJP-ruled states deny children a food choice that could address malnutrition Two of every five Indian children are stunted. Eggs are nutrition-dense superfoods packed with proteins and essential vitamins. Washington University researchers, for example, have demonstrated with a randomized control trial that feeding infants eggs daily decreased stunted growth by almost half and underweight by three-quarters. Berkeley researchers have also validated that healthy school meals even improve test...

-Hindustan Times The key to this problem lies in the way political and electoral financing are conducted in this country The stranglehold of Political Parties on the electoral and political system continues to increase with time. The anti-defection law, passed in 1985, formalised the control of Political Parties even on Parliament. Despite a large number of candidates on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), the candidates with a realistic chance of getting elected...

-Business Standard The government's price-fixation panel backs legalising farmers' right to sell at MSP New Delhi: As the government goes on an overdrive to publicise the hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP), the question is how to ensure that farmers reap the benefits. Unless there is a regular procurement mechanism, MSPs will continue to have a notional value except, perhaps, for rice. The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), the body which...