-TheCitizen.in NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi went on national television at 8 p.m. on November 8 to announce that from midnight of that very date, i.e. in a mere four hours’ time, 500 and 1000 rupee notes would cease to be legal-tender. The justification advanced for this bizarre move was that it would strike at “black money”. An additional argument was thrown in, to the effect that fake currency notes used by “terrorists”...

-The Hindu Paddy stubble, unlike wheat residue, isn’t valuable animal feed. Incentivising biomass-based power plants in Punjab and Haryana will help north India breathe easier. Delhi has registered its worst air quality in recent times. This has prompted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to call it a “gas chamber”. Pollution in different parts of the capital has touched hazardous levels with potentially serious health effects on the rich and poor alike, especially on...

-PTI New Delhi: As pollution levels worsened in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said schools in the city will remain closed till Wednesday and announced a raft of “emergency” measures to deal with the situation including ban on construction and demolition activities for the next five days and temporary closure of the Badarpur Power Plant. Emerging from an emergency cabinet meet, Kejriwal said the government will discuss with the Centre the...

-The Indian Express The flagship rural jobs programme has shown improved performance after initial neglect by the Modi government. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government may spend close to Rs 60,000 crore on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the current fiscal, a record for the programme that was a baby of the previous United Progressive Alliance regime. The Union Budget had allocated Rs 38,500 crore towards MGNREGA for...

-PTI Washinton: Research compares impact of dung cake burning versus the burning of municipal solid waste on browning of Taj Mahal and on the health of people living nearby. Burning of municipal solid waste in the vicinity of the iconic Taj Mahal is significantly contributing to the discolouring of the world heritage monument, an Indo-American research team has found. The research compared the impact of dung cake burning versus the burning of municipal...