-Down to Earth No funds released under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, MGNREGS works INComplete: District officials Over 400 kilometres from Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district — where construction of bunds under Jal Shakti Abhiyan helped revive groundwater — is another that paints an opposite picture. Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district ranked 205 among the 255 water-stressed districts in terms of successful water intervention schemes under Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and community participation. Rajgarh district collector Mrinal Meena...

-The Hindu Business Line ‘Higher output due to other factors’ Much of the INCrease in cotton yields in India cannot be attributed to the adoption of transgenic cotton, as claimed earlier, but to other factors such as INCrease in area of cultivation, fertiliser use, better irrigation and new class of insecticides in last 15 years, according to a new study. The study appeared in the journal Nature Plants last week. It was the...

-The Indian Express All comparisons between COVID-19 and TB end with the superficial observation that they are both deadly respiratory tract infections. The world has been spooked by COVID-19, the novel flu-like virus which emerged from the slaughter-houses of China and is now sweeping across the planet, propelled by the very engine of the global economy that it now threatens to pull asunder. Thanks to the waves of news engulfing us, INCluding...

-The Hindu It is not data, but lack of transparency and awareness that causes panic during a pandemic China’s initial cover-up of the novel coronavirus outbreak for nearly a month invited worldwide condemnation. Similarly, there were concerns when the U.S. was reported to be barring leading scientist, Anthony Fauci, from speaking publicly about the COVID-19 outbreak without approval. Dr. Fauci has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious...

-The Hindu/ PTI Some of the significant additions in the new rules INClude provision of mandatory police verification of staff in schools and care homes, procedures to report sexual abuse material (pornography), imparting age-appropriate child rights education among others. The Union government has notified the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020 which enables implementation of recent amendments to the Act under which provisions of punishment for child abuse has been...