-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of retired bureaucrats have written an open letter ruing the "rising authoritarianism and majoritarianism" that is choking dissent, and urging public authorities to take "corrective action" to "reclaim and defend the spirit of the Constitution". "Argumentation and discussion about different perspectives - the lifeblood not only of institutions of learning but of democracy itself -are being throttled," the letter says. "Disagreement and dissent are considered seditious...

-The Telegraph Bhopal: The turbaned, white-haired, kurta-dhoti-wearing "Tauji" figures are there too, but one outstanding feature of the current farmer agitation in Madhya Pradesh are its jeans-clad, smartphone-wielding spearheads. If the veteran "Kakkaji" Shiv Kumar Sharma is the public face of the movement, which lacks a central leadership, much of the spadework is being done by a band of young, bilingual, stats-savvy and largely apolitical agriculture graduates. Their leader Kedar Sirohi, who is...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Four out of every 10 children in Bihar suffer from stunting, a condition marked by impaired growth and development, despite overall improvements by the state on several measures of nutrition over the past decade, a report has said. The report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that analysed changes in Bihar between 2006 and 2016 has found that in 36 out of the state's 38 districts,...

-Hindustan Times Between 1880 and 2013 India lost about 40% of its forest cover. Today, 24% of its area is under forests or 7 lakh sq km, according to government data. The area under forest and tree cover has grown by 5,081 sq km between 2013 and 2015. “Do not erect a memorial when I die, but plant a tree if you loved and respected me,” Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave...

-The Hindu Business Line Threat of fluoride contamination in crops looms large in Assam Dilwar Hussain may not be able to give you the exact scientific explanation for how excessive fluoride can harm one’s bones and teeth, but he knows that it crippled his young son, causing his legs to bend. Children suffering from skeletal and dental fluorosis — marked by stained and crooked teeth, and bent legs — are a common sight...