-The Telegraph 'The existing system of the HRD minister chairing the panel for selecting IIT directors was a bad practice' New Delhi: A panel of educationists set up by the University Grants Commission has found flaws with the existing system of selecting academic heads of institutes of higher learning and called for a review, implying that politicians should not be part of the process. The recommendations came in a report the four-member committee,...

-TheThirdPole.net Between wasteful flood irrigation, free electricity to farmers, and skewed market incentives, agriculture is a mess; while lack of accountability creates urban water problems in South Asia The 2019 South Asian summer monsoon is late, slow and inadequate so far. If it makes up somewhat for lost time, those 55% of Indian farmers who do not get irrigation water will still suffer, but there is a chance that reservoirs may fill...

-The Hindu 'Fruits, vegetables can be used interchangeably' New Delhi: The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) said on Tuesday that it stands by its findings certifying mid-day meals without onion and garlic provided by the Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) in Karnataka schools as compliant with nutritional norms laid down by the State government. The response from the institute follows an open letter from experts asking it to withdraw its report on APF on...

-Livemint.com * Company boards dominated by directors of the same caste tend to enter deals more often, shows an IIM-B study * These companies perform slightly worse in terms of returns than those who do not enter into same-caste deals New Delhi: The caste system pervades all spheres of Indian society. Caste biases still influence many aspects of the economy but the private corporate sector is generally perceived as an oasis of meritocracy...

-The Indian Express Interestingly, researchers observed that as much as 5 million people left the workforce between 2016 and 2018. "The beginning of the decline in jobs coincided with demonetisation in November 2016, although no direct causal relationship can be established based only on these trends," The State of Working India (SWI) 2019 report released by Azim Premji University says. Bengaluru: Researchers and economists of Azim Premji University, based in Bangalore,...