-The Hindu Decision comes amidst reports of suspected diphtheria deaths Jaipur (Rajasthan): Extending the scope of the Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana (JSSY) with an aim to bring down the infant mortality rate (IMR) in the State, the Rajasthan government has decided to provide free treatment to newborns till they complete one year. This will include diagnostics, medicine and free transportation facilities. The scheme is applicable to all children born in public health facilities....

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture Union Minister for Agriculture, Shri Radha Mohan Singh had a meeting with DG, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) here today. Apprising FAO of the significant strides made by India in agriculture and allied sectors during last few years, he said that India has not only achieved self sufficiency in food but also did extremely well in horticulture, dairying, milk production, fisheries, post harvest management and...

-MattersIndia.com Ludhiana (Punjab): Teachers of government schools in Ludhiana district are opposing the newly introduced system of updating daily attendance and status of midday meal served to students through short message service (sms) to the district administration. After Roopnagar district, the system was replicated in Ludhiana on the orders of Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal. But various teachers' unions have strongly opposed it and decided to take up the matter with Education Minister...

-The Financial Express For all its targeting, fake ration cards abound. The GPS tracking of trucks carrying ration shop grain and the sms alerts were supposed to be unique ways in which the Chhattisgarh government had resolved the issue of pilferage of ration shop foodgrains. Once people were informed that the rations had left the FCI godowns and when they reached their ration shops, there was less scope for pilferage. Hardly surprising...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The emphasis on use of digital technologies to bridge the "rural-urban gap" in the union budget is limited to high talk and minimal allocations. The need for a more comprehensive and peoples' participation-oriented rural action plan should have been the focus while setting sectoral allocations, but that is not to be in this mid-year budget. Vipul Mudgal (vipulmudgal@gmail.com) heads the Inclusive Media for Change project at the Centre...