Two recent reports show that this social sector scheme has had a causal impact in improving lives, especially for women and children Fourteen million people escaped falling into poverty under the world’s largest anti-poverty programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In 10 years of its existence, the scheme reduced poverty by 32 per cent. Recent data also shows that more women are drawing cash incomes, more children...

-Livemint.com With barely weeks left for the to begin its retreat, it is emerging that India will close the year with a deficit much higher than what was initially forecast  Another year and another bad monsoon. What were the odds? The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast this year’s monsoon—like last year—to be below normal. At that time, we all hoped that the IMD had got it wrong—the economy was on the...

-The Times of India This may come as a shocker. Newer and more expensive categories of insulin are being aggressively "pushed" by drug companies, and, hence, increasingly prescribed by physicians for diabetics. The newer, second generation (rapid and long acting) versions are priced around Rs 500, three to four times costlier than the older versions - increasing the cost of treatment. Diabetes is growing alarmingly in India, with over 65 million...

-The Indian Express The objective of the DNA Profiling Bill, 2015, is to establish a regulatory framework for DNA testing, and setting standards and guidelines for laboratories doing these tests. The proposed Human DNA Profiling Bill, 2015, could not be finalised in time to be introduced in Parliament’s Monsoon Session. After that, owing to the intense debate generated by the Bill in the past few weeks, the government extended the deadline...

-The Hindu Thrissur (Kerala): Hard and dedicated work has won laurels for Samrudhi, a Kudumasree unit from Madakkathara. It has been chosen for the award best agriculture operations among Kudumbasree units in Thrissur district. Samrudhi’s success story began three years ago when an MoU was signed between the district authorities of Kudumbasree and the Kerala Agricultural University t(KAU) o permit the 10-member unit to cultivate vegetables on a five-acre land of the...