-The Telegraph Only 2 short-duration discussions had been taken up this session instead of taking up at least 1 a week Seventeen political parties, which together have 103 members in the Rajya Sabha, submitted a letter to Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday, seeking his intervention to ensure the parliamentary scrutiny of bills and adherence to rules that have been put in place to allow proper Deliberation. “We urge you to ensure that...

-The Telegraph Until now, Modi was the only one who represented the government in Niti Aayog Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the reconstitution of the Niti Aayog, the policy think-tank created in January 2015 out of the remains of the outmoded Planning Commission, by inducting home minister Amit Shah as an ex-officio member along with three other ministers who have been similarly designated. The other ex-officio members of Niti Aayog are...

-The Hindu DoPT says search committee’s Deliberations are exempted under the Act The Centre has refused to reveal details of the ongoing selection process for four new Central Information Commissioners, despite a Supreme Court order directing it to do so. The only information disclosed is that 256 people have applied for the four vacant positions, which were advertised five months ago. In its reply to a Right to Information request, the Department of...

-Down to Earth * Day-long Conclave organised by CSE in New Delhi; about 50 experts from across India participate * Experts recogniselinkages between India’s growing burden of diseases and the food produced intensively using chemicals as well as ‘bad food’ — ultra-processed foods high in fats, sugar or salt (HFSS), marketed rampantly * Strong pesticide management billneeded. Class I pesticides, extremely hazardous and toxic, must be phased out * Regulations needed to reduce misuse...

-The Indian Express “The number of jobs created under the Mudra scheme will be released after the polls as the Expert Committee found anomalies in the methodology used by the Bureau in arriving at the findings,” sources said. The Labour Bureau’s survey on the number of jobs created under the Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (Mudra) scheme will not be made public for another two months making this the third...