-Deccan Chronicle Critical to human life as they provide all of world’s freshwater. Kochi: Wetlands, the most economically valuable and among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, are disappearing three times faster than forests. A new report by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands warned of severe consequences for the future unless urgent action is taken to ensure their survival. Approximately 35 per cent of the world’s wetlands were lost between 1970-2015 with...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: The Estimates Committee of Parliament has asked the PMO, Coal Ministry and various banks to respond to queries on NPAs emanating from former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s report. The committee is headed by veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. Sources in the committee told BusinessLine that the PMO, ministry and lenders have been asked how the NPAs — estimated at ?9 lakh crore — piled up...

-The Hindu Business Line Mangaluru: An expert from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has said agro-biodiversity conservation approach has not received the attention from the stakeholders concerned in the country. Speaking at the inauguration of the national workshop on ‘Agro-biodiversity conservation for sustainable socio-ecological development’ at Mangalore University on Monday, KG Saxena, Professor, School of Environmental Sciences, JNU, New Delhi, said agriculture has remained the focus area for many. Long-term approach Following this, agro-biodiversity conservation...

-The Telegraph Given increasing government influence on primary education, we must ask who controls the substance of what children are taught. Education is an Important human capability that is considered essential for economic development. Education helps one to know about the world one lives in, think, discover new facts, and create new objects of use. It also helps one in making informed decisions and choices. Education is useful to an individual in...

-The Indian Express It is Important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...