-The Hindu The government incurred an expenditure of about Rs. 5,049 crore in 2014-15. Chennai: The State’s accounting of expenditure on freebies is not clear and does not transparently disclose the nature of details, said the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for the year ended March 2015. The report pointed out schemes like free distribution of laptops, marriage assistance schemes, free supply of grinders, mixies, fans, Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health...

-The Indian Express At simultaneous zeniths of their cycles this monsoon, chikungunya appears mild but causes a scare by spreading beyond the south. This year’s robust monsoon has come at a price: a zenith in the dengue and chikungunya cycles. Spiralling cases of both diseases have sent alarm bells ringing and the “season” has only just begun. Chikungunya, which has never really been a big worry in the north, has struck Delhi strongly...

Access to land and its resources is important since it determines the extent of poverty and deprivation one faces. Historically tribal populations and other traditional forest dwellers did not enjoy any legal entitlement such as ownership rights or user rights of the forest lands where they had been living since ages, both communally and individually. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) is, thus, seen as a progressive legislation that attempted to...

-Deccan Herald Patna: It’s a double whammy for Bihar. While 11 districts face the threat of floods due to a surge in the Ganga, the remaining 27 districts, out of 38, are on the verge of being declared drought-hit. The data procured from the Met department shows that Bihar has witnessed abysmally low rainfall this monsoon. Against a normal average rainfall of 803 mm, Bihar has received only 635.9 mm rainfall since...

-The Hindu Report lauds scheme but finds fault with the government for not identifying deserving beneficiaries in each area Chennai: The deficit in local bodies such as Chennai Corporation was widening owing to the increase in expenditure on Amma Canteens. According to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on local bodies for the year ended March 31, 2015, the expenditure on Amma Canteens in 2014-2015 crossed Rs.100 crore in...