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New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said the government will formulate a plan to stop incidents of stubble burning that affect both the environment and soil health.

Chouhan held a meeting with Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav to discuss the issue of stubble burning and ways to manage crop residues, as part of the government's efforts to manage air quality in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas.

Stubble burning is one of the reasons for the high level of pollution across Delhi-NCR.

In a social media post, Chouhan said, "We have decided to make a plan, from the time of paddy sowing itself, to prevent incidents of stubble burning."

Paddy sowing for the kharif season is undergoing and the harvesting of crops will be done in September.

Expressing concern, Chouhan pointed out that stubble burning affects the environment because of air pollution and also adversely impacts soil fertility.

Chouhan informed that both the ministries made a presentation on crop residue management and said, "We are going to take several measures."

He said it has been decided to work effectively on all aspects of stubble management through real-time monitoring and special surveillance of hotspot districts.

The government will also showcase model villages that have successfully managed stubble.

It will also promote modern technologies and establish systems for stubble collection and utilisation.

The Centre will also undertake extensive public awareness campaigns to stop stubble burning.

Separately, Yadav posted on social media that he held a detailed review along with the Union Agriculture Minister on in-situ and ex-situ crop residue management, as also on prevention of stubble burning in the context of Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas.

"The review focused on ways and means to efficiently and effectively manage and monitor crop residue in a bid to combat air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region," he added.

Officials of the Commission for Air Quality Management, which is a statutory body of the government, were also present during the review meeting. PTI MJH HVA

New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) Toy manufacturer KV Toys India Ltd on Tuesday said it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a 50 per cent stake in educational and STEM toys maker Play Panda Pvt Ltd for up to Rs 4.5 crore.

Once completed, it will strengthen KV Toys' presence in the rapidly growing educational and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) toys segment, said a joint statement.

KV Toys aims to leverage Play Panda's product innovation capabilities and portfolio of learning-focused toys, it added.

Commenting on the development, KV Toys India Director Karan Narang said, "The toy market in India is changing. More parents now want toys that combine learning with play. Educational and STEM toys are growing fast because families care about overall child development."

Play Panda, which focuses on STEM-based learning products focused on developing creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking skills among children, sells through channels such as Hamleys, Amazon and other retail outlets.

KV Toys manufactures and markets toys under its flagship brand QUCO and has an extensive retail presence in the domestic market. PTI KRH SHM

Srinagar, Jun 16 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Bank on Tuesday signed an MoU with the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions for expanding pension-related services and improving accessibility for pensioners across the union territory.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the 59th Pre-Retirement Counselling (PRC) Workshop and 13th Bankers' Awareness Programme held here.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh inaugurated the workshop that was organised by the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW).

Singh said the government has fundamentally changed the approach towards pensioners by placing their welfare, dignity, and ease of living at the centre of policy-making.

He said that the partnership would further strengthen service delivery mechanisms and enable a larger number of pensioners in Jammu & Kashmir to access the benefits of ongoing pension reforms with greater convenience.

"This collaboration with DoPPW reflects our shared vision of leveraging technology to make pension-related services more accessible, seamless, and efficient. We are confident that this initiative will further enhance the banking and service experience of pensioners across the Union Territory while strengthening our longstanding relationship with this important customer segment," the bank's MD and CEO, Amitava Chatterjee, said.

The MoU envisages collaboration between the Bank and DoPPW to further strengthen pension-related services for Central Civil Government pensioners by exploring integration of the Bank's pensioners' platform with DoPPW's Integrated Pensioners' Portal, thereby enhancing accessibility, convenience and last-mile service delivery.

The initiative is aimed at providing pensioners seamless access to a range of services through a single-window digital interface and contributing to greater ease of living for retirees. PTI MIJ MR

New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) JSW Dulux is aiming to be among the top-two players in the decorative paints and industrial paints business, backed by aggressive expansion, investments in brands and manufacturing capabilities, said its Chairman Parth Jindal in the company's latest annual report.

At present, Asian Paints is the leading player in the sector with a substantial share in the decorative paints market.

Addressing shareholders, Jindal said India remains one of the world's most attractive long-term growth markets, and the outlook for the paints and coatings industry is positive.

"With trusted brands, strong technical capabilities, an expanding distribution footprint and the institutional strength of the JSW Group, JSW Dulux is well positioned to disproportionately capture the opportunities ahead," he said.

Jindal said investments in infrastructure and housing, expansion in manufacturing supported by PLI schemes, enabling policy measures, rapid urbanisation, growing disposable incomes, and premiumisation trends are collectively strengthening long-term growth prospects for the sector.

However, "at the same time, competitive intensity has increased meaningfully — from a market once dominated by a few organised players to more than fourteen today", he added.

In such a landscape, sustainable value creation will increasingly favour companies with strong manufacturing capabilities, efficient execution, brand strength, and the ability to scale with discipline, he said.

According to Jindal, as the industry enters its next phase of consolidation and premiumisation, we believe scale, capability, and brand trust will define long-term leadership.

"In this backdrop, our acquisition of JSW Dulux Limited (formerly Akzo Nobel India) is a transformative step forward," he added.

The transaction combines globally-recognised brands, technical expertise, manufacturing capabilities and an established distribution network with the JSW Group's entrepreneurial approach and execution capabilities, he added.

Highlighting the group's ambitions in the sector, Jindal said JSW Dulux plans to compete aggressively across all segments of decorative paints and industrial coatings, while also expanding into adjacent categories to unlock new growth opportunities.

"Across sectors, JSW Group has consistently built category-leading businesses, with several of our companies already holding leadership or near-leadership positions in their respective industries. Our ambition in this industry is no different, and we aim for an eventual top-two position in decorative paints and industrial paints," he said.

Jindal said the Dulux brand, trusted by millions of Indian households, would remain at the centre of the company's strategy, with disproportionate investments planned to strengthen its premium positioning and deepen consumer trust.

The company will continue to focus on innovation, manufacturing excellence and digital capabilities to improve competitiveness and operational efficiencies, he added.

Expanding distribution across urban, semi-urban and emerging markets will also remain a priority to enhance market reach, service levels and customer engagement, Jindal said.

"With trusted brands, strong technical capabilities, an expanding distribution footprint and the institutional strength of the JSW Group, JSW Dulux is well positioned to disproportionately capture the opportunities ahead," he added. PTI KRH HVA

New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) The ban on messaging app Telegram by the government is unlikely to curb paper leaks as offenders might use other platforms, its founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, said on Tuesday after Google removed the app from its Play Store following an official order.

The government has directed Google and Apple to delist the Telegram app from their app stores till June 22 to curb paper leaks during the upcoming re-examination of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) on June 21.

Google has removed messaging app Telegram from its Play Store, and Apple is likely to follow suit in compliance with the order, sources said.

In a social media post, Durov said the decision to ban Telegram for a week punishes over 150 million users of the app in India and not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.

"India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps," Durov said.

The nationwide NEET-UG examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions into undergraduate medical institutes. The agency cancelled the previous exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak.

NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the restriction on Telegram till June 22 was part of efforts to ensure that the June 21 re-test is conducted without malpractice.

"We will not let anything go wrong. We will take all possible actions to ensure that the examination is conducted without any malpractice," Singh told PTI.

Android phone users, while trying to download the Telegram app from the Google Play Store, see the message "this app is not available". Those who have already downloaded the app may face restrictions while using it.

However, existing Telegram accounts continue to remain operational. While Apple's App Store was showing the app, the new account could not be activated on iPhones.

Sources told PTI that the government is in discussion with Telegram to temporarily disable the message editing feature till June 30, which allows existing users to edit their old messages as well as add any new content.

"The government has asked Google and Apple to delist the app temporarily. Google has done it. Apple will also be doing it," a source said on condition of anonymity.

Sources said that any individual could search for a group on Telegram and join it without requiring permission from the group administrator.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations made by the NTA, has issued a direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to the Telegram platform in India for a defined and limited period ending June 22, 2026, covering the day of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath.

A separate directive requires Telegram to disable in India the message-editing feature for already-posted messages till June 30, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event "paper leak" evidence in respect of national examinations, NTA said in a statement.

It said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has served as the principal nodal agency, coordinating the operational response to the Telegram-based fraud and misinformation targeting NEET candidates.

According to the agency, acting on inputs from the NTA, state law enforcement agencies, including the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and its own monitoring efforts, I4C secured the prompt takedown of a "substantial number" of Telegram channels, groups and bots that openly advertised fraudulent and misleading purposes.

Digital advocacy and public policy entities have raised questions about the effectiveness of the government's decision.

Public policy firm IGAP said that for an examination of the NEET scale and consequence, the state has a legitimate interest in acting against fake paper-leak claims, organised cheating networks and frauds that can create panic among students and families.

"Restricting access to Telegram affects many ordinary users who may have nothing to do with the misconduct. Students, coaching groups, teachers, professionals, journalists, small businesses and communities also use Telegram for legitimate purposes. So, the issue is not whether the government can act to protect NEET. It clearly can. The harder question is whether a platform-level restriction is the least intrusive way to address a particular pattern of misuse," IGAP Partner Dhruv Garg said.

He further said that paper leak rumours and exam fraud do not travel only through Telegram. They can move across other platforms and closed groups as well.

Digital advocacy group The Internet Freedom Foundation criticised the government's curbs on Telegram and disabling its message-editing feature ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam, calling the move a band-aid solution and a "disproportionate" response to exam fraud.

In a statement on X, the digital rights advocacy outfit expressed its objection to the directions announced today in the National Testing Agency's press release.

"Shutting down Telegram is a band-aid solution and is a disproportionate answer to exam fraud," it said. PTI PRS SHM