-The Hindu On November 8, Meghalaya’s Agnes Kharshiing and her associate Amita Sangma became the latest among 18 Right to Information activists in the northeastern region to have been either killed or assaulted or harassed. They were — as the police said — assaulted by a group of criminals at Tuber Sohshrieh in the coal- and limestone-rich East Jaintia Hills district. The spot where they were waylaid is not far from...

-PTI Demands include compensation for drought, increase in MSP Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured tribal farmers that their forest land rights claims will be settled by December this year. Fadnavis gave assurance to representatives of the protesting farmers who marched to Azad Maidan here for redressal of their grievances, which include compensation for drought and transfer of forest rights to tribals. A delegation of the protesting tribals met Fadnavis at...

-The Hindu For state-sponsored insurance, governments should avoid insurance companies World Bank data, in 2015, showed that nearly 65% of health-care expenditure in India is “Out of Pocket” (OoP). A report by the World Health Organisation has shown that around 3.2% of Indians would fall below the poverty line because of high OoP health expenditure. Thus, a national health insurance scheme like the Ayushman Bharat is welcome. While the principle of insuring a...

-The Hindu What happened? At the end of October, the Maharashtra government declared drought in 151 taluks in 26 of 36 districts, mostly in the Marathwada region and in the north. Experts said rainfall had been below par in large swathes of the State and faulty water conservation methods had added to the problem. How serious is it? The total number of villages affected by the drought — though the government has not shared...

-The Telegraph The scheme has consumed thrice as much money as earlier schemes without increasing the number of beneficiaries The new farm insurance scheme, introduced in 2016, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, has reportedly consumed thrice as much money as earlier schemes without either increasing the number of beneficiaries or giving farmers a fair claim. The PMFBY allows states to choose insurance companies through competitive bidding. Companies which propose to collect...