-The Times of India NEW DELHI: All banking institutions in India may soon chip in to increase India's forest cover in a coordinated manner. If the environment ministry has its way, all banks will be asked to join the central and the state governments in their ongoing efforts of afforestation. The move will be part of one of the 10 ways, identified by the Centre, to reach India's key climate goal. As...

-PTI Chandigarh: The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has decided to honour and reward a girl from Jind district for reporting the case of stubble burning by her father to the authorities. Sonali Sheokhand, from Dhakhal village of Narwana, will be given a cash award of Rs. 11,000 for her exemplary contribution to the cause of prevention of crop residue/ stubble burning in the state, an official release said today. Her complaint recently...

-Frontline.in In the latest Global Hunger Index, India is bracketed in the category of countries where hunger levels are “serious”. But the policy responses on hunger and malnutrition in the country have been inadequate and faulty. In the second week of October, a few media reports in India highlighted significant data pertaining to global hunger. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) had released its Global Hunger Index (GHI), rating 118...

-The Hindu Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have stolen a march over India in quality of school education. Data from new research on female literacy show that India’s school education system is under-performing in terms of quality when compared to its neighbours, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The research studies changes in female literacy over a number of schooling years. The proportion of women who completed five years of primary schooling in India and were...

-PTI Actress Shabana Azmi today criticised Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for brokering yesterday's deal between Raj Thackeray and Karan Johar while the Congress demanded his dismissal for aiding "extortion" of the film industry. But emboldened by its success, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena asked traders to "sacrifice" their business with Pakistan for the sake of the "nation", dismissing statements from cotton exporters who said the party's stand would affect the industry. Johar and...