-PTI/ Business Standard "We have written to states that the government wants to bring private sector in the procurement process besides FCI and state agencies," food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said. The Centre will soon invite private players along with Food Corporation of India and other state agencies to procure foodgrains for buffer stock, food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Monday. He informed that the Union food ministry has already written to all the...

-ARTicle-14.com In June 2022, India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav claimed that the legal rights of millions of Indian Adivasis or tribals had not been diluted in new changes to procedures that govern how forests are given to industry. But government documents reveal that doing away with the Centre’s responsibility to verify tribal rights had been the environment ministry’s intent since 2019. New Delhi: On 28 June 2022, the union government amended India’s...

-The Hindu Prisons are meant to facilitate rehabilitation but have become disempowering spaces with a mental health crisis The latest numbers are out. 9,180 prisoners with mental illness, 150 deaths by suicide, five prisoners with schizophrenia and epilepsy have died. While we know the numbers, we do not know what is being considered as a mental illness and whether these numbers are limited to persons who are in the mental health ward, or...

-The Hindu Business Line The crisis in low, middle-income nations is driven by speculation, falling purchasing power and depreciating currencies Among the many crises hitting low and middle income countries (LMICs) today, the emergence of extreme hunger and undernutrition is getting much less attention than it should. The cost-of-living” crisis in advanced economies gets a lot of international media attention. It is certainly evident and has political implications. But what is occurring in...

-The Hindu How is the ethanol blending programme connected to the rice export ban? The story so far: On September 9, the Centre instituted a ban on the export of broken rice. Additionally, it mandated an export duty of 20% on rice in husk (paddy or rough), husked (brown rice) and semi-milled or wholly-milled rice. The measures do not affect export of basmati or parboiled rice. The Secretary at the DepARTment of...