-Livemint.com Close to 97% of the 8,370 respondents surveyed in Jharkhand’s Nagri block said they prefer in-kind food subsidies due to the hardships faced while withdrawing cash and accessing ‘rations’ New Delhi: An audit by the Jharkhand government of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) of food subsidy has found that most households prefer subsidised grains over cash transfers. Close to 97% of the 8,370 respondents surveyed in Jharkhand’s Nagri block said they prefer...

-Down to Earth The criteria for exemption from labelling of food containing GM ingredients need to be much stricter The draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018, released by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in April 2018, may be a good beginning, but it has major GAPs that needs to be plugged to make it effective, according to the analysis of the draft regulations...

-The Hindu Business Line The Ayushman Bharat programme must aim to reverse poverty caused by healthcare expenses The state of India’s healthcare system is somewhat dichotomous — the country is a global supplier of life-saving, affordable and good quality generic medicines, yet lakhs of families are driven into poverty because they are forced to spend much of their earnings and savings on medications to treat chronic and life-threatening diseases. The poor, particularly,...

The country's maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) exceeds that of China by a huge margin, which not only indicates the poor status of women in our society but also the miserable functioning of health system, among other things. However, there is some good news around the corner to cheer about. Recently released data by the Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin indicates that for the country as a whole the MMRatio has...

-The Indian Express Behind the agitation, stagnant income and deteriorating terms of trade for agriculture New Delhi: Why are Indian farmers an angry lot today — stopping the supply of vegetables to cities and even spilling milk on roads? An answer to this can be found in the estimates of gross domestic product/ national income growth from the Central Statistics Office. The accompanying table shows two sets of growth figures. The first is...