KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...

Chief economic advisor to the finance ministry Kaushik Basu says the government should step in and acquire land for development projects to protect the interests of farmers. He also explains why the government cannot tackle food inflation by distributing free foodgrain among the poor. Excerpts from interview with ET: A large number of land-intensive project have run into opposition. Could it actually undermine our infrastructure thrust and growth? There is...

The state cabinet on Monday hiked the daily Minimum Wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from the present Rs. 110 to Rs. 157 and approved the recruitment of 413 computer teachers. Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, chief minister Digambar Kamat said that although the centre has fixed ` 110 as the minimum daily wages for people employed under the MGNREGA, it is not...

tung by farmers’ protest over land acquisition for the ongoing Yamuna Expressway project in western Uttar Pradesh, the state government today announced a new policy for land acquisition and rehabilitation of land owners. The policy promises sops, including equity share in the development projects, for land owners. Land acquisition hurdles have put brakes on several ambitious projects of the state government, including the Yamuna Expressway, international airport in Kushinagar district and Lucknow...