-PTI NEW DELHI: The AAP government spent Rs 30 lakhs on advertisements for student loans' scheme, but only three students got a mere Rs 3.15 lakhs till December last, Swaraj India today claimed, as it sought to rupture the "tall claims" made by the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation in the field of education. The Higher Education and Skill Guarantee Scheme is Delhi government's flagship programme. Addressing a press conference, Yogendra Yadav said doubling of...

-The Indian Express After cotton last year, the BJP state government faces a fresh challenge ahead of late-2017 elections. Rajkot: GROUNDNUT FARMERS last week forced a suspension of auctions at the agriculture produce market committee (APMC) mandi in Amreli to protest against tumbling prices of Gujarat’s second biggest cash crop after cotton. The new groundnut-in-shell crop is fetching around Rs 3,500 per quintal, well below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs...

-The Hindu Today, as the Marrakesh Treaty comes into force, India’s multi-stakeholder approach to providing texts for the blind/print-disabled offers an excellent model for other countries to follow. Today is an important day for blind and other print-disabled people across the globe, as it marks the entry into force of an international treaty designed to help deliver specially adapted texts to those affected by a range of disabilities that interfere with the...

-DNA Only 17% rural households take loans from financial institutions | Caste affiliation, gender play a part in getting credit As many as 31% of rural households in India are indebted and a significant number still depend on money-lenders, paying heavy interests, despite various government schemes and a network of rural banking. A parliamentary panel that probed the state of rural, agricultural banking found that a mere 17% rural household had taken...

-Frontline A noteworthy study that provides much-needed insights into the nature and severity of the farm crisis in Punjab. There have been many studies on agrarian distress and farmer suicides in different parts of India in the last decade, including in Punjab. Most of the studies focus on a profile of the victims, mostly landowning farmers, and reasons thereof, with a sample of such farmers. In this context, this book makes a...