-The Indian Express According to the government’s direction, a district magistrate has to preside over four meetings of the committee every month and ensure implementation of sundry recommendations of the committee. Patna: With the recently released National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2017 placing Bihar at the second worst position for the third consecutive year so far with respect to cases of atrocities against Dalits, the state’s General Administration Department...

-Hindustan Times In a startling revelation, the addresses of five out of 14 investment brokerage firms – hired by UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) authorities for investment of employees’ provident fund – were found to be fake, said senior officials UP police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). These 14 firms were hired by UPPCL authorities since March 2017 for investment of employees’ PF in Mumbai-based Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), said an...

-Down to Earth Although the actual amount of fines charged was not available; farmers continue to burn residues every season Crop residue burning in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has been known, but nowadays it's spreading more frequently in other parts of country. Wheat stubble burning is a relatively new issue which started with mechanised harvesting using combine harvesters. In the last four to five years, farmers from UP’s Ghazipur district, especially...

-The Hindu Business Line The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) is exploring introduction of breakfast in addition to midday meal in government/aided schools as part of a proposal under the New Education Policy. “We will keep the proposal before the committee members to include breakfast also under the midday meal programme,” said a source. Total funds to be allocated for introducing breakfast would be around ?3,000 crore. Currently, only lunch is...

-The Indian Express He will sooner or later adopt stubble burning-free technology. Imposing fines or filing FIRs is counterproductive. Jalandhar: Urban residents and the courts may fulminate, but farmers in Punjab and Haryana aren’t anytime soon going to stop burning crop residue from the harvesting and threshing of paddy using combines. They may well choose to harvest paddy with combines that have Super Straw Management System (SSMS) attachments and sow the succeeding...