-The Indian Express With just weeks before the Vote on Account to be tabled in Parliament the expenditure numbers of the government are looking challenging. The fiscal deficit has already touched 94 per cent of the full year target of Rs 5,42,499 crore between April- November 2013 and while the sluggish pace of revenue receipts is evident, movements in expenditure needs to be assessed carefully. Total expenditure has crossed Rs 10,00,000 crore mark...

-The Telegraph Guwahati: A national study on drug abuse among children has found Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram having the highest percentage of heroin, inhalants and injectable drug users respectively. The study, conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, New Delhi, in 27 states and two Union territories, found that 88.6 per cent children drug users interviewed in Mizoram used injectable drugs while 68.3 per...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Gujarat government has hit out at rural development minister Jairam Ramesh over his charge that Modi regime has not been able to full spend central funds it received under the Watershed Programme. In a hard-hitting response, Gujarat government has accused the central minister of using incorrect and half backed data and resorting to 'chicanery', for political purpose. The state government said that Ramesh based cited...

-World Resources Institute India struggles with water scarcity, a problem that poses especially huge implications for the country's food security and rural livelihoods. The country has long-battled its scarcity issues through Watershed Development, a participatory approach to improve water management through afforestation and reforestation, sustainable land management, soil and water conservation, water-harvesting infrastructure, and social interventions. But while watershed development has been employed in communities throughout India, its potential long-term costs...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Two days before Delhi gets a new chief minister, compressed natural gas (CNG) rates were hiked on Thursday by a steep Rs 4.50 - the second increase in three months - giving rise to the prospect of costlier public transport for Delhiites and throwing a challenge to the incoming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. CNG will cost Rs 50.10 per kg in Delhi and Rs 56.70...