-The Hindu The Modi government is determined to dismantle the two-pronged welfare paradigm. It is now an established fact that one area where the Narendra Modi administration has acted with a sense of purpose, urgency and resolve is in slashing social expenditure. Be it education, Health, agriculture, livelihood security, food security, panchayati raj institutions, drinking water or the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes sub-plan, central government funds earmarked for social protection have been cut. The...

-The Tribune Transformative approaches to agriculture are the need of the hour. For this, we have to impart climate resilience and rehabilitate economically stressed farming communities of agriculturally developed regions. Since more than two decades now, farmers have been committing suicides in India, a fact that reflects the harsh realities of farming. Most of these farmers were traditional family farmers, leading a lifestyle based on traditions and beliefs. The intensive commercial commodity-based...

-The Indian Express One area that has seen some reform, though, relates to minimum support prices (MSP) payable on official paddy and wheat purchases. The “perfect storm” kicked up by extreme weather events and lower crop price realisations — not to mention the political backlash resulting from its controversial land acquisition ordinance — has meant that the first year of the Modi sarkar has gone by without any major reforms in...

-IANS The reverse-osmosis water purifier at home seems to be a benign invention, allowing people to drink clean, Healthy water. But now scientists are warning that rampant use of the RO technology could pose a serious threat to public Health. One of the most popular water purifying technologies in India, the RO process is efficient in terms of filtering out toxic substances like arsenic and fluoride, especially in areas where groundwater is...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: The steep rise in sunstroke deaths in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is the result of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation index in the two states that stands at a critically high figure of 12. This has now come to the fore, courtesy data released by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The ultraviolet index or UV index is the standard measurement across the world used to understand the strength...