-Hindustan Times With nearly 200 Durga Puja pandals immersing idols in the river in Delhi-NCR, Yamuna was choked with debris. The river water was clogged with plastic bags, flower petals and pooja material, besides metal structures Delhi: The Yamuna choked on debris and waste materials on Sunday, a day after idols from nearly 200 Durga Pujas pandals in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and surrounding areas made way to the designated ghats...

-CaravanMagazine.in How political rhetoric has drowned out the economic realities of cattle-slaughter bans In mid August, news broke that more than 200 cows had starved to death in a shelter in Chhattisgarh owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader named Harish Verma. After the reports appeared, Verma protested that he had not received funds that the government had promised him for the shelter. But the irony could not have been starker. The BJP...

-Hindustan Times India’s economic growth slumped to 5.7% in April-June quarter, which experts attribute to demonetisation that sucked out 86% of the currency in circulation from a largely cash-reliant economy. The government’s expected measures to revive a stuttering economy could mainly target the MSME sector and involve a re-look at public-private project norms to boost investment without breaching its fiscal deficit target for the year, officials involved in the process told HT. Besides,...

-Hindustan Times Consumers pay more than 100% tax – central and state levies combined – on petrol and diesel. New Delhi: Fuel prices in India are at a three-year high, although global crude rates halved over the same period, leaving many in the country to wonder why they must continue to pay more for petrol and diesel. The central government says that because states earn more in taxes on petrol and diesel, they...

-Hindustan Times Healthcare in India could use the help of better data and analysis from both public health systems and private sector interventions Better data is needed to enhance state intervention in health and nutrition and harness the strengths of the well-entrenched private sector to achieve public health goals. To meet the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years, it is important to measure progress closely and ensure mid-course...