-The Indian Express Swachh Bharat needs everyone to want a toilet and use it all the time. How can rural sanitation really take off? The stories of missing and badly constructed toilets, of toilets not being used or used as stores, and some only being used by some in the family or some of the time, of people preferring open defecation and considering it healthier, are endless. Political priority, increased subsidy...
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Access at the cost of Net neutrality? -Suhrith Parthasarathy
-The Hindu In the Net neutrality debate, there is a conflict between two core values: ease of access and neutrality. The ease of access promised by applications like Free Basics compromises neutrality and may later morph into a method of predatory pricingIf programs that bring access to a part of the Internet in the immediate future were to entrench themselves, it could eventually lead to telecom companies abusing their dominant positionsIn...
More »‘Smart village’ scheme a hit in Andhra Pradesh -Prasad Nichenametla
-Hindustan Times Hyderabad: In this year’s Telugu hit Srimanthudu, actor Mahesh Babu plays the sole heir of a multi-crore business empire who goes in search of his roots to the backwoods of Andhra Pradesh and adopts a run-down village to turn around its fortunes. The film that won critical acclaim and box office success was also praised by chief minister Chandrababu Naidu at a time when the state government has launched an...
More »Empower, not weaken the CAG -Gautam Sen
-The Hindu A recent proposal to curtail the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India runs contrary to national and international conventions. Rather, it is the duty of both the executive and the legislature to strengthen this constitutional office A conference of the chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) has just been held under the aegis of the Parliament’s PAC. Nishikant Dubey, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), member PAC, and...
More »Rethinking conditional maternal entitlements -Vanita Leah Falcao and Jasmeet Khanuja
-Livemint.com There is a need to evaluate whether implementing a cash transfer programme has become the end On 4 September, the ministry of women and child development (MWCD) was issued a notice by the Supreme Court questioning its failure to implement the maternal cash entitlement guaranteed in the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). Section 4 of the NFSA entitles all pregnant and lactating women to Rs. 6,000, if they are...
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