Must Read News Articles – July 7, 2018

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Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in jail for corruption

An anti-corruption court in Islamabad on July 6 sentenced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison. His daughter Maryam Nawaz was sentenced to seven years in jail and and son-in-law captain (retired) Safdar awarded one-year jail term

Stand-off over control of ‘services’ continues

The issue of ‘services’ continued to remain the bone of contention with neither side willing to relent on the right to exercise control over bureaucrats, mainly those belonging to the All India Services cadre, posted in the capital.

Judge defends verdict on SC/ST Act

Everyone has the right to seek protection from arrest, says Justice Goel on his final day in office

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Govt. deploys 800 IAS officers for village outreach

At least 800 Deputy Secretaries, Under-Secretaries and Director-level officers, drawn from Ministries as diverse as Defence and Urban Affairs, have been assigned about 75 villages to visit, as part of the Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (EGSA) from June 1 to August 15. In total, 49,178 villages — most with a majority SC/ST population — are being targeted.

‘Alternative cereals can save water’

If Indian farmers were to switch from growing rice and wheat to ‘alternative cereals,’ such as maize, sorghum, and millet, it could reduce the demand for irrigation water by 33%.

Plan for central pool of documentary proof

As proposed, documentary proof gathered by the respective agencies would be stored at one place and its certified copies made available for the purposes of investigations and use as evidence in the court of law. Such an arrangement would require relevant amendments to the legislation governing each agency in terms of evidence collection.

The new trade order

There is little sign that Donald Trump will be turned from his protectionist path by appeals on the virtues of trade

A political ploy

Given that the MSP mechanism is primarily enforced through official procurement only for wheat and paddy, mere announcement of prices for other crops is unlikely to suffice in ensuring farmers get those returns.