-Outlook Hyderabad: New approaches such as Public Private Partnerships(PPP) and community-based activities would go a long way in maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving livelihoods, a senior World Bank official said here today. Observing that there is not enough public money to invest in the biodiversity needs of the world, Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, said new approaches are needed to finance nature conservation efforts. The World Bank has a...

-The Hindu Ahmedabad: The Election Commission (EC) has directed the Gujarat government to set up a Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) to check the menace of paid news during the build-up to December’s State Assembly election. The EC identified paid news masquerading as news as a major problem during elections. It has also issued guidelines to the MCMC to not only monitor all the political advertisements to be aired on television...

-The Indian Express After QS and Times Higher Education published their rankings of universities across the world, higher education has become the subject of fierce debate in India. The highest ranking institutions from India are the IITs, but even these do not figure in the top 200. The general refrain — why does no Indian university find a place among the top global universities? Unfortunately, given our present policies on higher education...

-The Times of India Medicines in India may not be sold under brand names in the near future. In its biggest move to push generic drugs and do away with brand names, the Union health ministry has ordered states to stop issuing licence for the manufacture or sale of drugs on the basis of their brand name. All pharmaceutical firms applying for licence to market or manufacture fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs will...

-The Indian Express Balimukh village, Morigaon: For 11-year-old Jesmina Begum, daughter of Abdul Motin of Atigaon, a village in the flood-ravaged Morigaon district in central Assam, commuting to school has become not only difficult but also dangerous in the recent weeks. “We know that five children drowned in a boat capsize on Tuesday. But what to do? We can’t stop going to school,” Jesmina said. The floods have washed away the road to...