-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The agriculture ministry on Tuesday released the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018, which lays emphasis on protecting the interests of farmers, considering them as weaker of the two parties entering into a contract. The ministry says that it is a promotional and facilitative Act and not regulatory in its structure. In addition to contract farming, services contracts all along the value chain, including pre-production, production and post-production,...

-PTI NEW DELHI: India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to a Lancet study. The Global Burden of Disease study, however, mentioned that India has seen improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990. In 2016, India's healthcare access and quality scored at 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990). "Although India's improvements on the (healthcare access...

-National Herald A recent CMS study in 13 states revealed that corruption has not only increased during Modi’s tenure, but Indians also believe the PM is not serious about fighting corruption Positioning himself as the “Chowkidar” of the wealth of the nation, Narendra Modi had famously said “Na khaunga, na khane dunga” after becoming Prime Minister. But all his promises to curb corruption stand exposed, as a recently-conducted study proves. The study...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The total income of 32 regional political parties in 2016-17 was Rs 321 crore with the Samajwadi Party (SP) getting the highest at Rs 82.7 crore, says a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). These regional parties declared a total expenditure of Rs 435.48 crore during the year, ADR added in the report. Of these 32 parties, 17 showed Rs 114.45 crore collectively as...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Concerned over hate campaigns and defamatory attacks in social media that have come to dominate political discourse during elections, eight former chief election commissioners (CECs) on Monday suggested that the Election Commission tackle them at source by persuading sites such as Twitter and Facebook to block them “in public interest”. Alternatively, they suggested, the poll panel could engage with the parties to convince them to practise...