-The Hindu The focus is on preparing residents of 1,517 habitations to take the test by 2020 KALPETTA (Kerala): After making two successful forays into the tribal hamlets of Wayanad, Kerala’s State Literacy Mission (SLM) is all set to earn the ‘100% literate’ badge for the outlier region, which has the highest tribal population among all districts. Tribal pockets are among a handful of areas where full literacy remains elusive in the...

-The Hindu Situation is the most bleak in low-INCome countries, says Lancet report “Oral diseases present a major global public health burden, affecting 3.5 billion people worldwide, yet oral health has been largely ignored by the global health community,” noted a new Lancet Series on Oral Health. The report warns that with a treat-over-prevent model, modern dentistry has failed to combat the global challenge of oral diseases, giving rise to calls for the...

-Business Standard Food supply chains will get disrupted globally, the study warns. Report to be officially released in August “The rate and geographic extent of global land and freshwater resources over recent decades is unprecedented in human history,” a report authored by UN’s panel of scientists from across the world on climate change is set to inform. Business Standard reviewed a leaked copy of the draft report sent to the governments of...

-The Indian Express A 2 per cent TDS on cash withdrawals beyond Rs 1 crore may hit the farm trade hard. One of the 2019-20 Union Budget’s less-discussed proposals, having significant implications for agricultural trade, is the levy of a 2% TDS (tax deducted at source) on cash withdrawals exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from any bank account. The levy — aimed at promoting “digital payments” and a “less cash...

-The Telegraph In a fortnight, we will know how many lakhs will be catapulted into a maelstrom of trauma thanks to the NRC What does it take to prove one’s identity (read citizenship) in a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic? Ask nonagenarian Amar Upadhyay, whose daughter, Baijayanti Devi, was the first woman martyr of the Assam Agitation, and who contested the assembly elections. Ask Kargil veteran, Mohammad Sanaullah. Ask Manju Devi, the great-granddaughter...