-Hindustan Times New delhi: The government is readying a new policy framework to rein in the inflationary impact and stabilise the supply of pulses, a widely consumed but scarce food item with economy-wide implications. Three ministries – agriculture, food and finance – and the state-run policy think-tank Niti Aayog are coordinating efforts to frame the new measures that will see the government step in as one of the key importers of pulses. “The...

-The Telegraph New delhi: The Centre has slammed 12 states, including Bengal and Bihar, for not taking any steps yet to comply with a Supreme Court directive on compensating workers for delayed wages under the national job guarantee scheme. In a letter this week, the rural development ministry said this was "not an acceptable situation". The letter written by Aparajita Sarangi, the joint secretary handling the MGNREGA scheme, said 20 states had started...

-The Times of India JAIPUR: The deep-rooted gender bias in our society is being propagated by the revised school textbooks in Rajasthan. Ample instances hinting at male superiority have been found in Hindi and English revised textbooks. Class III Hindi textbook chapter 'Games' has three pictures showing only boys playing games, indicating that sports is meant only for boys. In most chapters, women have been introduced in reference to men, says a...

-The Hindu Business Line How trained youth from rural India fare in urban work spaces Yesterday was World Youth Skills Day (July 15), an opportune time to meet some of the country’s rural youth who have recently skilled under government programmes and moved to work in the delhi NCR region. Outside their comfort zone and working in the competitive, urban environment for the first time, life can be challenging on all fronts. Ask 30-year-old...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture Ministry expects record harvest this year New delhi: With the monsoon covering the entire country this week, sowing of kharif crops till July 15, at 559.76 lakh hectares (lh), surpassed last year’s acreage of 548.38 lh as farmers planted more rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and sugarcane. Cotton was the only crop that witnessed a drop in acreage, at 75.41 lh in the June to July 15 period...