-Deccan Herald District-level officials have been mounting pressure on the government to give beneficiaries cash instead of foodgrains The Karnataka government is under pressure to consider replacing foodgrains with cash benefits to not only plug pilferage but give citizens a say in their consumption basket amid concerns that they are not eating all of what they get under the public distribution system (PDS).  The cash-based food subsidy is being piloted in Puducherry, Chandigarh...

-TheWire.in States like Delhi (despite its unique multi-party governance architecture), West Bengal, Kerala (or even Goa and Sikkim) perform better compared to UP when it comes to being measured for securing access to basic social, economic services. In a veiled attack against BJP’s political opponents, accusing them of promising ‘freebies’ (revdi) in exchange for electoral votes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday cautioned people, especially the youth, against this “revdi culture”, saying...

-Down to Earth Dry June led to late paddy transplantation; More than half of targetted acreage lie uncultivated     A dry June followed by a rainy July might delay Kharif crops in Odisha this monsoon. Farmers in several districts, mainly the western and coastal areas, have yet to start paddy transplantation due to erratic rainfall. Through July 23, paddy was sown in 1.27 million hectares out of 3.5 million hectares planned by...

-Scroll.in Costlier imports and the widening of the current account deficit is likely to eat into India’s foreign currency exchange reserves. The Indian rupee touched a historical low, trading almost at Rs 80 against the US dollar on Wednesday. A knee-jerk, macro-analytical response studying India’s currency performance would mistakenly see this trend in isolation, while projecting a weakening of macro-economic fundamentals to be leading towards a depreciation. Looking closely at the numbers it...

-The Telegraph Shiv Sena member Priyanka Chaturvedi places a written question about the rise in fake news online The Centre on Thursday said people creating tension in society “in the name of fact-checking” were liable for legal action, a day after efforts to keep fact-checker MoHAmmed Zubair imprisoned were frustrated in the Supreme Court. Rashtriya Janata Dal member Manoj Jha had asked in the Rajya Sabha why fact-checkers were being arrested while those...