-PTI May 23 notification not “to influence food habits, or affect slaughtering business”, the Union Environment Minister says. The government on Sunday said it was open to suggestions from various groups on the May 23 cattle slaughter notification and was not viewing it as a prestige issue. Speaking to reporters here, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the intention behind the notification was not to harm any particular group, influence food habits or affect...

-The Hindu Deny Maharashtra Chief Minister’s claim that strike has been called off. Mumbai: Unanimously agreeing to continue the farmers’ strike in Maharashtra, a core committee meeting in Nasik on Sunday decided to call a State-wide bandh on Monday, excluding Mumbai. Farmers began their strike on Thursday demanding farm loan waiver and support price for their produce. In a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday morning, a section of farmer leaders...

-PTI To curb charging of “unreasonable” fees and levying of “hidden” costs, the CBSE has sought data from private schools about their fee structure and increase carried out in recent years. The move comes weeks after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) warned private schools against turning into “shops” by selling uniform and books in their premises. “We have told the schools that they should not charge unreasonable fees. The charges should...

-The Hindu Kodenchery Station police are scripting stories of compassion Kozhikode: Two underprivileged persons from the Kodenchery station limits will soon have their own house, thanks to the compassion of a group of police officers from the station. Work is on in full swing to complete construction of the houses. “Malar, a rubber tapper from Tamil Nadu, has been living at Theyyappara under a plastic-thatched roof. The house we completed with the support...

-Firstpost.com If one purely compare the January-March quarter GDP growth of fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2016, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s prediction that demonetisation will shave off 2 percentage points of India’s GDP has come true. In the January-March quarter of FY16, GDP grew by 9 percent, which has come down to 6.1 percent in the corresponding quarter this year— a near 3 percentage point difference. Even the full...