-The Hindu India lost its tag as the ‘world’s fastest-growing economy’ last month as its fourth quarter GDP growth fell to 6.1%, the slowest in two years. Very few economists expected the slowdown. In fact, most waited for the economy to rebound as it quickly healed from the impact of the demonetisation of high-value rupee notes in November. Critics of demonetisation felt vindicated, particularly after GDP figures for the third quarter...

-TheWire.in While the transformation is gradual, Delhi’s government schools have come a long way in improving their infrastructure and quality of education. New Delhi: CBSE Class 12 results were announced on May 28 and Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia took no time to tweet about the city’s government schools performing better than private schools for the second year in a row. He tweeted, “Last year Delhi government schools had 2% better...

-The Hindu Dumping of solid waste has badly affected five river basins in the State Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Microbial contamination due to sewage discharge and dumping of solid waste has affected the water quality in five river basins in Kerala, highlighting the need for stricter monitoring and management of water resources. The findings have been published by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) based on a study of the Mogral, Chittari...

-Livemint.com Activists who are ideologically opposed to genetically modified crop technology have unleashed a virulent campaign to stall the GM Mustard cultivation Seven-and-a-half years ago, BT Brinjal, developed by two public agricultural universities, was approved for commercial cultivation by the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), a statutory body. BT Brinjal is inherently resistant to the notorious fruit and shoot borer (FSB) pest and therefore produces a marketable crop without the large number...

-Down to Earth As farmers' protests demanding loan waiver pick up across the country, there are other people who owe them huge amount of money: the insurance companies A year after the Union government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) in April 2016 to enable farmers tide over chronic crop losses due to various calamities, it clearly emerges that the insurance companies,...