-PTI N Chandrababu Naidu said access to electricity was a key socio-economic development indicator, but this was an area where there was still a significant gap in India. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has become the second state in the country after Gujarat to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households, a latest report has said. JM Financials published the report based on a national-level survey on electrification in various states. Discussing this through a tele-conference with top officials...

-The Hindu Held to account by the Supreme Court, the Central government is using opaque methods to change the key provisions of the employment guarantee scheme and make it targeted instead of universal. There is a pithy saying in Hindi that the elephant has two sets of teeth, one for show and the other to eat. This seems an apt description of the approach of the Narendra Modi government towards the implementation...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture may have expressed concern at the unscientific and excessive use of pesticides in agriculture that pose a threat both to the environment and human health. But experts say their judicious use, combined with safe agricultural practices, is the only way out as the country’s growing demand for food cannot be met through organic farming. In its recently presented report in Parliament for 2015-16,...

-The Hindu Business Line The PMUY scheme, under which the poor get subsidised LPG connection, addresses an urgent need. At the same time, it can turn out to be a political masterstroke for the BJP, write Richa Mishra and Debabrata Das The kitchen has always played an important role in Indian politics. Leaders across political parties have cooked their electoral fortunes with the kitchen as the integral ingredient. While some distributed highly...

-The Hindu Major challenges in health data data collection discussed Data collection system in India needs to be completely revamped as different sources lead to different conclusions, Dr. Bibek Debroy, a member of the NITI Aayog, said at a conference held last week. During the “Better data for better health” conference, organised by the observer research foundation (ORF), Dr. Debroy said the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the largest organisation in India conducting...