-ThePrint.in DoPT ad for applications gets mixed reactions – some welcome the move but others are apprehensive, say may increase scope for political appointments New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to allow private sector specialists a lateral entry to the crucial joint secretary position in at least 10 ministries and departments, a first-of-its-kind move that has evoked mixed reactions from bureaucrats and politicians. The position of joint secretary has traditionally been...

-The Hindu The court-ordered clean-up in the textile town has managed to mitigate ill-effects of industrial pollution to a large extent. A similar remediation effort, involving the government and stakeholders, is needed in other parts of Tamil Nadu, where groundwater has been so contaminated that farming is not possible anymore On a sunny June morning, two men are spotted fishing close to the Orathupalayam dam in Erode district. A rather ordinary act in...

-Firstpost.com The labour ministry has put the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) on the back burner as it wants to transition to computing payroll data based on Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscriptions, based on data from the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), according to this report in The Economic Times. Of course, the EPFO-based jobs data gives one a better picture about the...

-The Hindu Research shows that they alter rivers and their fish communities drastically It seems to stand to reason that small dams cause less environmental problems than large ones. But the first study on small hydropower projects in India proves that they cause as severe ecological impacts as big dams, including altering fish communities and changing river flows. Such hydroprojects, which usually generate less than 25 megawatts of power and consist of a...

-The Indian Express GDP growth rates for pre-2011-12 years, making it impossible to compare the new growth data with the growth during the UPA years. New Delhi: From a new gross domestic product (GDP) series to a revised Index of Industrial Production and inflation indices, alongside fresh interventions including payroll reporting based on EPFO data, statistical measurement tools to gauge economic development underwent some change over the past four years. In the...