-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The government is readying a new policy framework to rein in the inflationary impact and stabilise the supply of pulses, a widely consumed but scarce food item with economy-wide implications. Three ministries – agriculture, food and finance – and the state-run policy think-tank Niti Aayog are coordinating efforts to frame the new measures that will see the government step in as one of the key importers of pulses. “The...

-Hindustan Times Indore: Soybean crop has been affected for the third consecutive year in Madhya Pradesh as excessive rain in Satna, Rewa and Bhopal regions will necessitate re-sowing once the water recedes, an agriculture expert said. Madhya Pradesh is the top producer of soybean in the country and accounts for 53% of its production, according to government statistics. “Farmers will have to go for re-sowing wherever there has been water logging in fields...

-Hindustan Times Soon, colleges across Bengal will have separate toilets for transgender students. Kolkata: As a step towards addressing the concerns of the transgender community and helping them earn social acceptance, the coordination committee for West Bengal Transgender Development Board, formed by the Mamata government, had recommended setting up separate toilets or modifying existing ones for these students at all the state-run and the state-aided colleges. Following the recommendation, the state higher...

-Hindustan Times It is almost a year since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), or the Skill India mission, with the aim of giving as many as 2.4 million young Indians industry-relevant training with an elaborate certification scheme. One year is too short a time to assess true progress in a bureaucracy-driven system of the kind India has, but, given the NDA’s earnestness to create jobs by...

-Hindustan Times A week after the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) put out a document on its website titled ‘National Forest policy, 2016 (Draft): Empowered Communities, Healthy Ecosystems, Happy Nation’, a senior ministry official last week said the document is only a “study” done by Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, and not a draft policy. The preface to the document, however, said it had been prepared “based on...