-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's apex animal welfare agency has proclaimed that allowing stray animals such as cats, dogs, monkeys and cattle to roam the streets amounts to cruelty and told the states to create animal shelters, among other steps, or face legal action. The Animal Welfare Board of India, a unit of the Union Environment Ministry, has sent an advisory to the states seeking action by local municipal authorities to provide...

-ThePrint.in DoPT ad for applications gets mixed reactions – some welcome the move but others are apprehensive, say may increase scope for political appointments New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to allow private sector specialists a lateral entry to the crucial joint secretary position in at least 10 ministries and departments, a first-of-its-kind move that has evoked mixed reactions from bureaucrats and politicians. The position of joint secretary has traditionally been...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A national disaster risk index mapping hazards and vulnerabilities across 640 districts puts Maharashtra at the top of the chart followed by West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while Delhi is most at risk among Union territories (UTs). At first glance, the lower hazard ranking to states like those in the north-east and others like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, which are prone to earthquakes or...

-Livemint.com Harsh Vardhan says GM mustard is a very contentious issue and said a lot of opinions have been expressed for and against its introduction New Delhi: Even as the government continues to put on hold its final decision on release of genetically modified (GM) mustard for commercial cultivation, Union science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan said that the proposal has not been shelved and remains under consideration. Vardhan emphasized that GM mustard...

-The Hindu Trust in official statistics is vital for democracy — the new policy must avoid centralisation David Spiegelhalter, president of Royal Statistical Society in the U.K., gave a most unusual presidential address in 2017. Instead of talking about esoteric statistical techniques, he talked about declining trust in numbers in a post-truth society bombarded by fake news and alternative facts. He recommended to the statistical community that the best way of inspiring...