-PTI Backing Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the decision will help farmers prosper by removing middlemen from the supply chain and generate new jobs. Addressing the national executive of Indian Youth Congress in Srinagar last night, Rahul said FDI in retail will help farmers store their produce safely for a longer duration, thus ensuring best value for their crops. The 42-year-old AICC general...

-The Hindu Caste discrimination takes on insidious forms in higher education institutions across the country, according to a report When 35 medical students — all Scheduled Caste candidates — failed en masse in the same subject — Physiology — they cried foul. Delhi’s Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, where they were studying, turned a deaf ear to their grievances, according to a recently-released report by Rajya Sabha MP Bhalchandra Mungekar, who was appointed...

-The Indian Express The Planning Commission has proposed to train registered medical practitioners, commonly referred to as quacks, to ensure universal health coverage reaches even the remote populations. “Affordability, accessibility and quality are three pillars of UHC. The challenge is to fill the gaps especially in rural areas where there is a problem of trained manpower. We would like to train traditional midwives and RMPs — some people call them jholawala doctors...

-The Telegraph The human resource development ministry plans to sponsor a certain number of Indian Students for PhD and MPhil courses in leading foreign universities every year. It has asked higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) to work out details such as the number of students to be sponsored and the institutions with which the arrangement would be sought. “The focus may be on science and technology,” a ministry source said. The...

-Outlook The Delhi University today assured the high court here that it would ensure punctuality among its teachers and install biometric attendance register system in its various colleges. "The university is committed to implementation of the biometric system, said the Delhi University (DU) registrar in an affidavit to the Delhi High Court bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw. Accepting DU's assurance, the bench today disposed of...