-Hindustan Times In India, it’s difficult to find accurate estimates of campaign spending. Research also shows that illicit funds are important in funding elections in the country. Despite constant chatter about the massive (and rising) costs of election campaigns in India, there is a dearth of credible data on the actual costs, the sources of support for candidates, and the implications of campaign costs on governance between elections. However, newly available survey data...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India witnessed 822 communal flare-ups in 2017, the highest for a year and a 27 per cent rise from 2014, according to data provided by the Union home ministry to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. As many as 111 people were killed in these 822 incidents of communal violence, the figures showed. Some 86 people were killed in 703 such incidents in 2016, compared with 97 deaths in...

-Times Now News The Prime Minister of India's residence- 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, does not have an electricity meter, reveals an RTI query. The response stated that neither there is a consumption record nor a separate electric meter has been installed for the Prime Minister’s residence. The RTI activist had also sought information about the electricity consumption of the whole Prime minister’s residential complex, for which the result is pending. New...

-The Hindu Parliamentary Standing Committee says only 10% of projects complete. Irrigation projects of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) may have taken the spotlight in the Prime Minister’s speech during Friday’s no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha. However, a less well-known but vital component of that scheme is watershed development, which is lagging behind badly, according to a Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) report. When the report was first tabled last...

-Firstpost.com The recent increases in minimum support prices have attracted two criticisms from two opposite sides. One is that this is less than what farmers deserve, the second is that this is populist and ignores larger macro side effects. The increase in fair remunerative price for sugarcane has also been criticised for not adequately addressing the woes of the sugar sector. Ramesh Chand, member, agriculture, NITI Aayog talks to Firstpost on...