-Financial Express Implementation of farm loan waivers by various state governments has led to a sharp decline in both the number of insurance policies and the farm area insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). According to data gathered by FE, during kharif 2018 (the harvesting of the crop is on), the number of insured loanee farmers under PMFBY was just over 2 crore, compared with 3 crore such...

-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 Economic Times NEW DELHI: Sixty retired bureaucrats have written to the CAG expressing concern over audit reports on demonetisation and the Rafale deal being "deliberately" delayed to not "embarrass" the NDA government till next year's general elections. In a letter, they said there was concern over the "unconscionable" and "unwarranted delay" in bringing out the audit reports on demonetisation and the Rafale fighter jet deal, and the reports should be...

-The Hindu One student is making a drone, another a dancing robot. Scenes from two government schools in Delhi The walls of the entryway of the school are covered with bright charts that talk about everything from sustainable development and ‘Swachh Bharat’ to ‘happiness goals’ and exam schedules. The cream-coloured floor gleams and the sun peeps out from the clouds behind the rows of students — dupattas pinned, shirts tucked in, not...

-ThePrint.in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says his govt has tried to handle the drought situation, but any farmer suicide remains a matter of concern. Mumbai: Farmer suicides in Maharashtra have nearly doubled in the four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, despite a surge in the overall expenditure on the agriculture sector. Data from the state’s relief and rehabilitation department shows that 11,225 farmer suicides were recorded between January 2015 and...