-The Hindu The increasing cost of production and the increase in GST on cartons has triggered protests in Himachal Pradesh Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are out on the streets some three decades after their last big agitation. The protests are not surprising; their anger has been simmering for a while. To understand the present crisis, it is crucial to understand the developments of the last few decades. In the 1970s and 1980s,...

-PTI/NDTV.com The schools will be "technologically driven" and will be developed into Green schools, incorporating environment-friendly tools like solar panels, LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management. New Delhi: The 14,000 schools to be developed as PM-SHRI schools will be selected through a three-stage challenge where they will compete for support to become "exemplary" schools, according to Ministry of Education officials. The schools will be geo-tagged for the selection and monitoring,...

-TheWire.in While the dam breach in Madhya Pradesh's Karam river is a recent example of poor construction quality, the politician-contractor-engineer nexus in these projects has long been known. In his eighth Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the need to fight against corruption and nepotism. Highlighting the steps his government has taken to check corruption, Modi said: “In the...

-Down to Earth Ministry believes that the Chhattisgarh government cannot Transfer these lands for any purpose without the prior permission of the Government of India A news report published in the Indian Express daily August 25, 2022 spurred a debate on the definition of ‘forest land’, its contentious history and many of the associated facts related to such lands. Ignored completely by the colonial administration and largely unresolved even after independence, many of...

-Down to Earth Hurdles in availing financial support under Nikshay Poshan Yojana will exacerbate India’s tuberculosis crisis Only two-thirds of people living with tuberculosis benefitted from the Union government’s sole nutrition support scheme last year, highlighting bottlenecks in the fight against a major public health concern. The Nikshay Poshan Yojana entitles every tuberculosis (TB) patient, seeking treatment in either the public or private sector, to a direct benefit Transfer (DBT) of Rs 500...