-Down to Earth/ India Science Wire Preferences change depending on factors including level of education, size of family, status as main earner A major challenge faced by the Indian health system is to keep its Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) motivated and retain them in service. A new study has found that ASHA workers get motivated most by prospects of promotions than other factors. Researchers from The George Institute for Global Health and...

-The Hindu Business Line The government bears over Rs. 70,000 crore annually as subsidy to provide cheaper farm nutrient to farmers. The government is seriously thinking of giving fertiliser subsidy directly to farmers under the SECond phase of implementation of direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, a senior fertiliser ministry official said on Thursday. In October 2017, the first phase of fertiliser DBT was rolled out, under which subsidy is being transferred to companies...

-The Telegraph Until now, Modi was the only one who represented the government in Niti Aayog Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the reconstitution of the Niti Aayog, the policy think-tank created in January 2015 out of the remains of the outmoded Planning Commission, by inducting home minister Amit Shah as an ex-officio member along with three other ministers who have been similarly designated. The other ex-officio members of Niti Aayog are...

-The Telegraph The merger of two statistics bodies would bring such data more directly under the control of the government During the last five years, there have been a number of controversies over economic data presented by the government and by relatively autonomous bodies like the National Sample Survey Office. The controversies have been quite sharp, leading to two senior members of the National Statistical Commission resigning earlier this year. These controversies,...

-Hindustan Times IMD on June 1 said that this year the monsoon rainfall is likely to be “normal” at 96% of the long period average (LPA), and indicated that it would be evenly spread that could bring some respite to people suffering from dry weather conditions. New Delhi/ Pune/ Bhopal: Around 43% of the country is staring at a drought, government reports released in the past week show. By June 15, it...