-The Hindu Business Line   BARC finds 91.77 ppm of the material in DAP; fertiliser industry says it can't be blamed When the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) found high levels of uranium in fertiliser and soil samples from the Malwa region of Punjab last week, activists in the area were not surprised. They have long been warning about environmental contamination due to excessive phosphate fertiliser use. Local reports indicated that BARC found uranium...

-The Hindustan Times The urban leg of Swachh Bharat Mission could be going to the cleaners as the Centre and the states have yet to clean up their act on the funding pattern to sustain the Rs. 62,009 crore programme. The mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than two months ago to encourage cleanliness in cities and to build loos to discourage defecation in the open in urban India is...

-The Hindu Chennai: Tamil Nadu has sought increased role and greater fiscal autonomy for States in the new institution that will replace the Planning Commission. "It is our belief that a Strong Union can emerge only out of strong states and India's governance structure has to incorporate more federal features," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers to discuss the...

-The Hindu Hemant Soren's letter to the PM in this regard comes a week after his Tripura counterpart held a rally in New Delhi against funds cuts in the scheme. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an appeal "to ensure that the provisions of MNREGA are not diluted in any manner." Mr. Soren's letter to the PM comes a week after Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar...

Far from being dead and gone, slavery exists in many forms and is flourishing. A disturbing report on modern slavery compiles facts and figures and documents data about new forms of slavery all over the world. Even more disturbing is the fact that India figures in very high on slavery index. It says that almost 61% of those living in modern slavery are in 5 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan...