-Outlook Is the devolution of ­national funds to states really worth the praise? * Share of the states in the divisible pool of central taxes has risen from 32% to 42% for five years till 2019-20 * Rise in untied funds transferred is accompanied by cut in Central assistance for state plan spending * Limited ability of the poorer states to expand their fiscal space with own revenue collection * Funds for rural development...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A day before the India-EU summit on March 30, international human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch wrote to the European Union brass complaining how the Modi regime was using the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to restrict foreign funding oto Indian NGOs like Greenpeace India and ones run by activist Teesta Setalvad, besides stifling free speech by those critical of the government. Intelligence agencies have taken note...

-The Times of India Kendrapada: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has failed to take off in 21 gram panchayats of Kendrapada district. The district collector has decided to take disciplinary action against the sarpanchs and panchayat Executive officers of these panchayats. District collector Niranjan Nayak said, "The administration has already issued show-cause notices to the sarpanchs and panchayat Executive officers of Bagada, Dashipur, Silipur, Bachara, Balipatana, Baluria, Nilakanthapur,...

-Outlook In the last two decades, more than 300,000 farmers have ended their lives. What can be done? Indian agriculture is important as it feeds an estimated 1.3 billion population of the country and is also burdened with the responsibility of providing livelihoods to 60 per cent of the people — 780 million people. No foreign country can produce this mammoth quantity of food and supply to India nor any sector...

-The Hindu The GARV app puts pressure on State governments for timely and quality delivery “I am going to turn everything into an app and I am going to allow people to monitor daily what work we are doing, what work States are doing” — Piyush Goyal, March 23, 2016 at the Power Focus Summit Rural electrification has been an enduring challenge for successive governments. Given India’s federal structure, States provide last-mile connectivity...