-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is planning an innovative strategy to use the approximately 4.5 lakh engineering and polytechnic seats that stay vacant every year to teach skill training courses. The plan, which is at a preliminary stage with approvals needed to make it actionable, aims to plug the skills gap, provide options for youth who might be falling out of any kind of professional or academic training, and...

-The Times of india The stand-off between the judiciary and the legislature over the procedure for appointing judges comes at a time when the country's 24 high courts have 397 pending vacancies for judges, and what's more, eight of them having acting chief justices. It is not clear at this point whether these vacancies can now be filled through the earlier collegium system or that will have to wait till the system...

-Hindustan Times Each year, an adult on average catches viral infections two to three times a year. Young children get them more often, falling ill between four and six times a year, with symptoms in both young and old ranging widely from mild sniffles and a sore throat to a hacking cough, high fever and acute diarrhoea, all of which appear to be leading to more and more hospitalisations each year. Over...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government proposes to end exemptions on stock limits of pulses for exporters, food processors and large retailers with multiple outlets, which is being seen as a desperate attempt to deal with the spiraling prices. Sources said it was discussed at a meeting chaired by the cabinet secretary on Friday in the presence of officials of other departments. The cabinet secretariat has asked the consumer affairs...

-The Economic Times Is publicly funded health insurance pushing poor households to actually spend more on hospitalisation? A study conducted by three public health experts of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) suggests that this could be happening. The study found that a larger proportion of the poorest households are having to make "catastrophic spending" (defined as more than 10% of household expenditure) on hospitalisation and that the amount spent by...