-Livemint.com The demonetisation sop is a unique opportunity to evolve the maternal and child health agenda into a universal Maternity Benefits Programme in the budget In an unexpected twist, demonetisation has spurred PRIme Minister Modi into championing the cause of maternal and child health (MCH) in India. On 31 December, pregnant women in India were the surPRIse beneficiaries of post demonetisation sops as the PM committed his government to fulfilling one of...

-PTI AHMEDABAD: A differently-abled farmer from Gujarat's arid Banaskantha district has inspired several others to make the best use of their farmland by planting pomegranate. Genabhai Patel (52), a pomegranate farmer from Sarkari Goliya village in Lakhani taluka of the district, has polio in both legs but he did not let it become a hurdle. Instead, he experimented with farm practices involving drip irrigation to produce pomegranate in the highly arid and...

-Hindustan Times Delhi: Former Secretary-General of United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan, has commended Delhi government’s flagship Mohalla Clinic project that is aimed at providing free PRImary healthcare to city residents closer home. In a letter on January 25 to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in capacity as chair of The Elders, an organisation of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, Annan also shared suggestions that could help reform the project and...

-Hindustan Times Delhi: The Delhi government launched the first of its 54 model schools, which has audio-visual teaching aids, projectors in classrooms and a swanky building on Wednesday. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had in 2015 announced that it will turn 54 of its schools as a pilot project to bring government schools at par with PRIvate schools. While all the shortlisted schools are undergoing renovation, Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Rouse Avenue was the...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court’s verdict that ordinances are subject to judicial review, and do not automatically create enduring effects, places a timely check on a power rampantly abused by governments On January 2, in one of many judgments delivered on its first working day of the year, the Supreme Court, in Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar, made a series of pronouncements with potentially huge implications for the future of...