-The Hindu The political scientist on the danger to India’s checks and balances, and the perils of the democratisation of mediocrity in universities Professor of political science and a holder of the Madan Lal Sobti Chair, Devesh Kapur has been director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary India at University of Pennsylvania since 2006. Mr. Kapur, who recently co-edited Public Institutions in India: Performance and Design, says our public universities...

-Centre for Science and Environment New Delhi: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released here today the first detailed independent evaluation and analysis of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) – government’s flagship national agricultural insurance programme. Across the world, agriculture insurance is recognised as an important part of the safety net for farmers to deal with the impacts of extreme and unseasonal weather due to climate change. Releasing the report...

-Scroll.in The ministry says it will respond to a draft model contract that has been sent to states for comments. The Ministry for Health and Family Welfare has said that it will respond to the Niti Aayog’s draft agreement proposing the terms for privatising district hospitals across the country. As Scroll.in reported, the government policy think tank sent a letter to states in June proposing a model by which private companies...

-The Financial Express The domestic prices of key agricultural commodities were below the export-parity prices during most of the time in the decade 2004-2014, according to a new study by Icrier and World Bank. However, the export/import opportunities were not always used as restrictive trade policies played spoilsport; for instance in the 2007-08 global food crisis, though rising global prices made many Indian products export-competitive, rice and wheat exporters among others were...

-The Indian Express Government has an opportunity to enhance use of social audit to monitor schemes In contrast to its rhetoric, the current government’s record on transparency, accountability, and citizen participation has been uninspiring. Even essential laws such as the Lok Pal and the Whistle Blower Protection Act are yet to be operationalised. However, recent developments on social audits, the conduct of which actually finds a place in the BJP’s 2014...