-The Hindu Business Line No special treatment for political parties, clarifies Jaitley New Delhi: Political parties registered with the election commission may not necessarily escape scrutiny of their returns with regard to deposits of old demonetised notes just because they are exempted from taxation under Section 13 A of income tax law. For political parties to gain exemption under Section 13 A, certain conditions have to be met. Also, there are "enough provisions" in...

-The News Minute Rice Diversity Blocks in Kerala and five other states preserve over 1,000 indigenous varieties of rice that were at risk of being lost. In the Indian subcontinent, the birthplace of paddy, the colours of the crop’s many varieties are as diverse as the land, its people, languages, cultures, costumes, dialects and so on. But most of that variety was lost, when farmers were asked to forgo indigenous varieties...

-The Economic Times If digital transactions could curb corruption and black money , Kenya would have be en the most transparent co untry in the world. About 75% of the adult population in Kenya uses mobile phones for payments and money transfer. The value of mobile money transactions and transfers per day is equal to 4.5% of annualised GDP of Kenya, as per a report published in an International Monetary Fund...

-The Economic Times BENGALURU: The state pollution authority has warned action against industrial units in Peenya after a four-year study by scientists traced the source of contamination in the Vrishabhavathi river to the effluents discharged by them. The contamination is also getting into the food chain as the water containing heavy metals is used by farmers to grow vegetables, notably baby corn. Scientists from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the...

-Hindustan Times Chinsurah, West Bengal: A 163-year-old municipality administering a small town in West Bengal has shown the world how to manage solid waste in an eco-friendly way, potentially giving urban planners and administrators the key to tackling one of the biggest civic problems. The initiatives of Uttarpara-Kotrung municipality helped the Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project win a global award, defeating nearest contenders Auckland and Milan in urban solid waste management...