-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Almost five of 10 persons admitted paying BRIbes in the last one year to avail primarily government services and eight of those did so at local level to police, municipal officials and matters relating to property registration and VAT, according to a survey by an online platform. LocalCircles, which conducted the India Corruption Survey, claimed the poll received one lakh responses to a set of eight...

-The Telegraph Lucknow: For 18 months since April last year, Phulwasi Devi and 34 other elderly residents of Pipariya village couldn't figure out why they hadn't been receiving their subsidised food grain or old-age pension. It took them an 18km bus ride last Monday to find out, from the district social welfare department office, that they had all been marked "dead" in official records.. The 35 victims, who include 20 women and 30...

-The Hindu Business Line The Karnataka government’s efforts to popularise millet cultivation seem to be yielding results, thanks to a rising consumer demand based on awareness about healthy alternatives. Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister, cited drought, climate change and erratic monsoon as the driving factors for popularising millets such as ragi, jowar and bajra. These are less water-intensive crops compared to paddy or sugarcane and a shift to millet cultivation will help...

-Livemint.com The draft guidelines propose to levy a new water conservation fee based on quantum of groundwater extracted With the aim of completely changing the way groundwater is managed, the central government has proposed guidelines which stipulate that all industries, mining and infrastructure dewatering projects—whether existing or new—that draw or propose to draw groundwater will now need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC). The draft guidelines, reviewed by Mint, also propose to levy...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned the use of petroleum coke and furnace oil in the National Capital Region, Haryana and Rajasthan by 34 industrial groups in its efforts to BRIng down pollution levels that have spiked in the industrial hubs of these areas post-Diwali. These fuels, which emanate highly toxic gases, are banned in Delhi since 1996. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) lauded the directive as...