-The Indian Express The committee is MEAnt to screen applications and shortlist institutions that deserve the world-class status. New Delhi: The Human Resource Development Ministry has tweaked the UGC regulations for setting up 20 world-class institutions, just weeks after the proposal hit a roadblock with the Solicitor General of India objecting to the unlimited powers of the proposed empowered experts committee. The committee is MEAnt to screen applications and shortlist institutions that...

-The Indian Express In a scenario of depressed crop prices, a unique PPP model in milk shows the way out. Coimbatore: For roughly a decade from 2004-05 to 2013-14, Indian farmers experienced rising incomes from higher crop prices year after year — something they pretty much took for granted. That party ended with the crash in global commodity prices, hitting agricultural exports hard and translating into lower farm-gate realisations for most crops. But...

-The Hindu SC will hear petition on Friday; comments invited by environment ministry have to be vetted Even though transgenic mustard (GM mustard) may have been declared safe by a government sub-committee, it may yet remain in the can for an indefinite period. On Friday, the Supreme Court is expected to hear a petition by anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) campaigner Aruna Rodrigues, who argues that the Centre’s preliminary clearance to GM mustard, named Dhara Mustard...

-The Hindu The next biggest cause of deaths was chronic respiratory diseases. Chennai: In 2015, India, like other developed countries, had more number of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases. In the case of males, deaths due to non-communicable diseases (3.6 million) were more than double that were caused by communicable diseases (1.5 million), while it was nearly double in females (2.7 million due to non-communicable diseases and nearly 1.4 million deaths due...

-The Hindu A more progressive Central law on land acquisition is now in place, but several States have already either amended the new law or enacted legislation of their own. On August 31, the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Yadav v. State of West Bengal delivered one of the most momentous decisions of the year. It invalidated the expropriation of land in Singur by the erstwhile Left Front government in Bengal, and...