-The Times of India BIJNOR: Despite the government's announcement that old currency notes can be used to buy seeds, the sowing of wheat has fallen significantly in West UP districts because the seed department has stopped giving them to farmers. According to agriculture department officials, seed centres have stopped selling them since November 24 although it is the peak of the wheat sowing season for the Rabi crop. The reason, officials...
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Crackdown on magic cure ads -Sumi Sukanya Dutta
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has decided to write to all State Governments asking them to launch a crackdown on outdoor advertisements of traditional medicines that claim to "magically" cure various illnesses and cosmetic problems. Sources in the Union information and broadcasting ministry said the letters will be sent out following a nudge from the Union ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. The Ayush ministry, a few months...
More »English-medium fallacy exposed -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: Studying in an English-medium school does not automatically make your child proficient in English, a comparison of two nationwide surveys on school enrolment trends and performance in English suggests. One in three schoolchildren goes to English-medium schools in Himachal Pradesh while one in 30 does so in Bengal, according to a survey by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). But Class X students in Bengal, sampled...
More »Why We Need to Open 'Amma Canteens' All Over India -Reetika Khera
-TheWire.in Jayalalithaa’s schemes – such as her canteens and baby care kits – may appear to be populist at first glance, but are actually quite entrenched in a welfare tradition. For development economists, Tamil Nadu offers many lessons in social democracy. The state has distinguished itself with visionary schemes – such as noon meals (known as the mid-day meal scheme nationally) and the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefits Scheme, which provides Rs...
More »Don't eulogise Amma for her freebie politics -SA Aiyar
-The Times of India blog Authoritarian leadership, big corruption, and endless freebies for the masses. These were the hallmarks of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa (popularly called Amma) who died last week. In this week of mourning, she has been praised by even her bitter political foes. Yet this political correctness must not distort her electoral record. Since the 1970s, power in Tamil Nadu has oscillated between the DMK and Amma’s AIADMK....
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