-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has sent a fresh reminder to the law ministry seeking "urgent" sanction of funds for procurement of voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) in time to hold the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with new-age EVMs. In a letter written to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on March 22, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi reiterated that the order for supply of VVPAT needed to be...

-PTI New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Centre to pay Rs 5,000 for delays in filing its reply to a retired army officer who alleged dumping of human excreta by aircraft over residential areas near the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. Lt. Gen. (Retd) Satwant Singh Dahiya has sought criminal proceedings against commercial airlines and imposition of hefty fines on them for endangering the health of people living near...

-The Hindu Erode: While non-government and welfare organisations are understandably keen to enable tribal communities on the hills to derive utility of abundance of bamboo on the hilly parts, there are indications of ambiguity over the status of implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006 under which bamboo is considered a minor forest produce. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had, during 2011, asked states to treat bamboo as a minor forest...

-The Indian Express Learning outcomes are assessment standards which help teachers to understand the learning levels of students in their respective classes, individually as well as collectively. THE HRD Ministry has amended the rules under the Right to Education (RTE) Act to make it compulsory for all state governments to codify expected levels of learning which students in Classes I to VIII should achieve in different subjects. A common practice globally, this...

-Down to Earth The Red Dot Campaign by SWaCH cooperative is sensitising people about the importance of proper handling and disposal of sanitary waste SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling), a Pune-based wholly-owned cooperative of self-employed waste workers, in collaboration with the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP) and Rotary Pune, launched a ‘Red Dot campaign’ to help waste pickers avert health hazards due to mishandled sanitary waste. The campaign is the...