-The Hindu Bench asks States to provide data on malnutrition, starvation deaths and other related issues within two weeks The Supreme Court’s questions on hunger deaths drew a near blank from the Union government on Tuesday. The government’s response skirted from urging the court to ask the States for data, making sweeping comments about malnutrition in “developing countries” to reading statistics out of a 2015 health survey report and a newspaper article. “Why are...

-Down to Earth Bihar needs to strengthen and enhance capacities of Gram Panchayats to realise the gains of a decentralised planning Imagine yourself living for ages in a remote village inside a dense forest in the 21st century. Basic amenities such as proper roads, safe drinking water, healthcare and education facilities are missing.  The nearest primary school and health centre is located at a distance of seven kilometres. You have to trek through...

-The Hindu Home Ministry did not respond if an extension has been sought from House committees The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) did not notify the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 rules till Sunday, the third extended deadline after the Act was passed. January 9 was the last day of an extension it sought from the two parliamentary committees in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to frame the rules. It was not...

-The Hindu CM’s economic advisory team studies model for replication. A sustainable natural farming system adopted in southern Rajasthan’s Banswara district, which has created new livelihood sources and brought food security to indigenous tribal communities, has impressed the Chief Minister’s Economic Transformation Advisory Council. The model is being considered for replication elsewhere in the State. A 20-member team of the Council visited Banswara district’s Amlipara village earlier this week to study the techniques...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture is too diverse a subject for it to be compressed into a sub-section of the regular budgets of the Centre and States During the last five years, the Budget allocation to agriculture has seen positive shifts consistent with the Centre’s role in research, marketing, exports, and agricultural education. In the light of the farm reform Bills’ repeal, is it not the right time to formulate a separate...