-The Telegraph For starters, it would alter the prices at which such support was calculated for ensuring a basic real income With Rahul Gandhi’s announcement of the Congress’s “historic decision” to adopt an income guarantee scheme, the idea of a universal basic income, mooted in the Economic Survey two years ago, has suddenly got a fillip. It appears attractive at first sight: its universality avoids the discrimination, exclusion and jockeying that typically...

-The Telegraph The internet giants want to tackle fake news and surface details on political ads, but will it work? She's Twittersphere’s newest star. Last week, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined Twitter and within 24 hours, racked up 160,000 followers. Of course, Priyanka’s nowhere near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 45-million-plus followers. But she and former Uttar Pradesh chief Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo who’s another Twitter newcomer, are notching up Twitter followers...

-TheWire.in The Shiromani Akali Dal has accused the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government of not fulfilling its promise of loan waivers for farmers in the state. New Delhi: A total of 919 farmers have committed suicide in Punjab in the last two years. On Tuesday, the families of some of the deceased farmers protested at the Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh, The Tribune reported. Around 100 families who had gathered under the aegis of...

-Scroll.in Private insurance companies have benefitted more than farmers from the new crop insurance scheme.     Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched to expand crop insurance coverage in India     But coverage has shrunk, despite compulsory enrollment of farmers at the time of taking loans     Private companies retain a larger share of government funds than before     Farmer groups have opposed compulsory enrollment and complained about payment delays.   In its manifesto for the...

-The Hindu Business Line The government should explain constant variations in GDP figures. India’s reputation for data credibility could suffer “The (revised GDP) numbers are the result of a hatchet job” tweeted former Finance Minister P Chidambaram after the Modi government published the back-series GDP data late November. Ahmed Patel, his colleague in the Congress party, added his bit: ‘In its desperate attempt to re-write GDP data, the government resembles a student...