-The Times of India KOLHAPUR (Maharashtra): The Kolhapur district is one among 10 in Maharashtra to be selected for the Bharat Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan, an initiative of the Union ministry of women and child development to combat the gender imbalance in India. Altogether 100 districts were selected for the project across the country, of which 10 are from Maharashtra. Other districts include Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Sangli, Buldhana, Beed, Washim, Osmanabad, Ahmednagar...

-Economic and Political Weekly India's scheduled tribes are among the most deprived socio-economic groups and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme has great potential in tribal areas. While the Andhra Pradesh government has made an effort to ensure implementation of the scheme in the scheduled areas, the GAP between administrative orders and the grass-roots level is wide. This article lists measures that could radically improve implementation of the scheme...

-The Hindu The programme needs to retain the momentum of a movement than that of a litter-cleaning project "Slum districts... consisted of poorly built houses, a deficiency of ventilation and toilets, unpaved narrow streets, mud, and stomach-turning stenches due to the presence of decaying refuse and sewerage. In such conditions, ill health was observably endemic." This is not a description of Indian cities today (though it may well be), but of Britain around...

-The Times of India A year ago, Vijayalakshmi decided to risk her decade-old corporate lifestyle to launch Design-Dreams, a web design venture, using her own funds. The BITS Pilani post-graduate may have successfully made the leap to an entrepreneur, but expects the climb ahead to be steep. "When you walk into a networking seminar, you can count the number of women on your fingers. One feels secluded and interactions are difficult,"...

-The Indian Express Hardly 58 per cent of rural households in India are engaged in farming activity, which, in turn, contributes not even 60 per cent to their average total monthly incomes. These are the findings of the latest countrywide "Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households" conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) for the 2012-13 crop year from July to June. They refute a common perception regarding agriculture - how it...