-The Hindu Fund is not public authority, says reply The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has refused to disclose details on the creation and operation of the PM CARES Fund, telling a Right to Information applicant that the fund is “not a public authority” under the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005. The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was set to accept donations and provide relief during...

-The Indian Express Privatisation does not make a self-reliant nation. A decentralised, people-centric approach to development will help Mahatma Gandhi’s conception of self-reliance was of simple living and self-sufficiency. The basic idea was to use local resources and a local workforce for the production of commodities for local consumption to the extent possible, with minimal dependence on the outside world. But the Indian Government’s clarion call for “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) has...

-TheWire.in There remains a wide chasm between the financial resources committed in budgets and the actual expenditure aimed at providing social security benefits for workers. The unprecedented crisis that the unplanned lockdown pushed workers into has once again forced social activists and researchers to contemplate over whether a legislation passed in 2008 by parliament could have provided relief to workers. Careful scrutiny of the financial resources as committed in budgets and the actual...

-NDTV India is battling the worst desert locust outbreak in recent times. Swarms of locusts first attacked Rajasthan and have now spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. New Delhi: The Delhi Government on Thursday warned of a possible locust invasion and asked authorities to spray insecticides and pesticides on crops, vegetation, gardens and orchards while several states in western and central India struggled to contain the worst infestation in nearly...

-Hindustan Times Less than 57% of the people who sought work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have received jobs under the programme. At a time when millions of migrant workers who have returned home to the hinterland are looking towards it for a livelihood, the Government’s flagship rural jobs programme has got off to a slow start in the new financial year, Government data show, amid the...