-The Hindu Environment Ministry and inland waterways body differed on need for clearances India’s longest waterway project, one terminal of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week, was made possible only after a high-power Committee of Ministers and senior officials from multiple Ministries overruled the recommendations of experts appointed by the Environment Ministry. The latter had recommended public consultations and a full-fledged environment clearance, documents made available through...

-The Indian Express The low TRAIning participation was mostly due to financial barriers and time consTRAInts, with each category cited by a third of youth respondents. Seventy per cent of youth are unaware of government-run skill development programmes in their area, yet more than seventy per cent are very interested in pursuing skills TRAIning, according to a “Young India and Work” study by the Observer Research Foundation and World Economic Forum. The findings,...

-The Indian Express There has been only a marginal increase in the direct tax to GDP ratio after demonetisation. And the economy didn’t need to suffer for digitisation. The government did not celebrate the second anniversary of demonetisation, one of its biggest policy initiatives. It has celebrated the anniversary of all other big policies. Why the diffidence? The finance minister did come out with a statement listing the achievements of demonetisation. But his...

-The Hindu A farmer’s house in the nondescript Kirugavalu village is the country’s largest private rice museum A serpentine road from Mysuru cuts through lush green fields and leads to an obscure village dotted with run-down houses and petty shops with thatched roofs. Sidestepping a passing herd of sheep, I enter a narrow lane and reach a 75-year-old house with a row of pillars. It is this house, in the nondescript Kirugavalu village in...

-The Hindu One student is making a drone, another a dancing robot. Scenes from two government schools in Delhi The walls of the entryway of the school are covered with bright charts that talk about everything from sustainable development and ‘Swachh Bharat’ to ‘happiness goals’ and exam schedules. The cream-coloured floor gleams and the sun peeps out from the clouds behind the rows of students — dupattas pinned, shirts tucked in, not...