-The Telegraph New Delhi: Women engaged in farming have converged from across the country in the capital demanding a separate identity as "women farmers" with access to the same rights and entitlements as their male counterparts, besides land records classified according to gender. A key issue pertains to the ownership of land as patriarchy continues to deny women such rights which, in turn, blocks their access to subsidies and other inputs provided...

-PTI Non-Performing Govt Schools Should Be Handed Over To Private Players: Niti Aayog Government think tank Niti Aayog has recommended to hand over non-performing or "hollowed" government schools to private players under the public- private partnership (PPP) mode. The Aayog, in its recently released "Three-year action agenda", has recommended that the idea, where the private sector adopts government schools while being publicly funded on a per child basis, can be explored. According to the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recently ordered closure of many polluting units in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, but such a 'drastic' step could soon be the last resort if the government finally legislates a proposed law which imposes heavy fines on violators instead of shutting them down altogether. The proposed law provides for an INCrease in the existing penalty from Rs 1 lakh to...

-PTI GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam continued to improve on Monday, although 1.25 lakh people in five districts of the state are still reeling under it. According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 1.25 lakh people remain affected currently in Chirang, Morigaon, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong and Golaghat districts. Till Sunday, 1.6 lakh people were suffering due to the third wave of floods across six districts of the...

-The Times of India AGRA: With the Supreme Court holding instant talaq, or talaq-e-biddat, unconstitutional, madrassas in Uttar Pradesh have begun preparations to teach Muslim men the "correct way to divorce". Maulana Shahbudin Razvi, national general secretary, Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa, an influential organisation of the Sunni Barelvi sect, said, "Following the apex court order on triple talaq, we conducted a meeting of clerics associated with madrassas and have urged them to inform the...