-Hindustan Times Opposition legislators staged a walkout on the last day of the monsoon session to protest what they called Gavit’s “insensitivity” over the issue. Mumbai: Conflicting information over malnutrition deaths in the state emerged from the assembly on Thursday as ministers of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government contradicted each other. Tribal development minister Vijay Kumar Gavit said that the state had not witnessed any malnutrition deaths in the past five years,...

-Livemint.com To ensure food security of India’s 1.4 billion people, a decision was taken to prohibit export of wheat in May following rising demand for Indian wheat amid the Russia-Ukraine war. But, this caused a jump in export demand for wheat flour The Union cabinet on Thursday approved placing restrictions on wheat flour, or atta, exports to curb rising prices and ensure food security for the poor. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs...

-Down to Earth Multiplication of vectors, stray cattle main reasons behind spread A total of 35,000 cattle have died due to lumpy skin disease in nine Indian states as of August 23, 2022, according to the Union department of Animal Husbandry. Around 900,000 cattle have been infected, as the department tries to contain any further spread of the disease.  Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral illness, caused by lumpy skin disease virus...

Are public sector banks (PSBs) important for the economy? Have the PSBs served the purpose for which they were created? Could the PSBs compete efficiently against the private sector banks (PVBs)? These are some of the questions, which have been answered by a chapter in the RBI Bulletin's August edition. Efficiency of PSBs Co-authored by Snehal S Herwadkar, Sonali Goel, and Rishuka Bansal (2022) of the Banking Research Division, Reserve Bank of...

-Down to Earth Hurdles in availing financial support under Nikshay Poshan Yojana will exacerbate India’s tuberculosis crisis Only two-thirds of people living with tuberculosis benefitted from the Union government’s sole nutrition support scheme last year, highlighting bottlenecks in the fight against a major public health concern. The Nikshay Poshan Yojana entitles every tuberculosis (TB) patient, seeking treatment in either the public or private sector, to a direct benefit transfer (DBT) of Rs 500...