-The Hindu While sanitation schemes in India date back to the British Raj, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is the latest and by far most ambitious iteration. Launched by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of 2014, the Rs.9,000-crore scheme aims to achieve an Open Defecation-Free (ODF) India by constructing 12 million rural household toilets across the country before October 2, 2019 — to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday. But...

-The Times of India State Bank of India (SBI) has revised service charges on ATM (Automated Teller Machine) withdrawals for users of its mobile app "SBI Mobile Buddy", as well as for various other cash and online transactions, effective from June 1. The country's largest lender will start charging customers Rs 25 per transaction for withdrawing money from an ATM through its mobile wallet app from Thursday. The SBI mobile wallet allows...

-Hindustan Times An RTI query revealed that Patanjali’s Divya Amla Juice and Shivlingi Beej failed to meet the quality standards. The lab report said 31.68% of foreign matter was found in Shivlingi Beej and amla juice had less than the prescribed limit of pH value. Nearly 40% of Ayurveda products, including items from Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali, were found to be of substandard quality by Haridwar’s Ayurveda and Unani Office, a Right to...

-The Indian Express New and tough rules on ISBN prompt global body to react THE HRD Ministry risks losing its role of distributing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) to publishers in India amid complaints of red-tapism and fears of censorship by the government. On March 29, in a letter sent to Minister of State for HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey, the ISBN International Agency warned that it is “seriously considering” revoking the...

-Livemint.com All our solutions in agriculture, besides management issues, are going to come from science and technology, says Deepak Pental, innovator of GM mustard Last week, the environment ministry’s regulator, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), cleared the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard, leaving it to the government to take a final call. If approved, it will be India’s first food crop developed using transgenic technology, 15 years after Bt...