-The Hindu In RTI reply, NCDC says WHO official sent an “alert mail” to Union Health Minister The World Health Organisation (WHO) informed India as early as January 11 that the reported dates of onset of novel coronavirus circulating in China’s Wuhan ranged between “12-29 December 2019,” according to information Accessed through Right to Information (RTI). The RTI reply shows that the WHO also “advised against any travel or trade restrictions on China...

-Society for Social and Economic Research The economic reforms which were started in 1991 shifted the focus of fertilizer policies away from playing a leading role in building the fertilizer industry and ensuring the availability of fertilizers at affordable prices to farmers. Under the neo-liberal policy framework, reducing the fiscal burden of fertilizer subsidies and the foreign exchange burden of fertilizer-related imports became the overriding concerns of the state.  Interestingly, the post-liberalisation...

-The Hindu New research at University of Cambridge focuses on rural knowledge systems and sustainable practices to safeguard the ecosystem An academic with research interests in food production, rural development and gender equality in development interventions, Shailaja Fennell has worked on several international projects to promote sustainability and build resilience. She supervises M.Phil students at the Centre of Development Studies – University of Cambridge, and Ph.D students at the Centre of Development...

-ThePrint.in UPSC uses a secret formula to ‘normalise’ scores in optional subjects, as there’s a gap between humanities marks and that in a technical subject like maths. New Delhi: Despite attempts by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to increase the educational diversity of candidates selected through the civil service exam, the number of engineers becoming civil servants has remained disproportionately high — nearly 60 per cent in the last two years. Data...

  Among other things, one of the reasons (given by some economists) behind low labour force participation rate (LFPR) of women vis-à-vis men in the country is that more young girls are educating themselves, causing an improvement in the secondary and tertiary enrolment rates. It means that more Indian women are staying out of the labour force in order to continue their education – secondary education and / or college &...