-The Economic Times For one who had worked so closely to frame the world's largest job guarantee programme, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, it's not easy to see it succumb to pressure. It's no wonder that economist-cum-activist Jean Dreze will raise his voice against this, along with eminent academics such as Pranab Bardhan and Maitreesh Ghatak. Dreze says corruption related to NREGA and leakages - its...

-Outlook Karnataka government plans to procure cloth from powerlooms for school uniforms, thus impacting the livelihood of handloom weavers in the state. The Vidya Vikas scheme of the government of Karnataka through which free handloom cloth for a pair of uniforms is provided to students of government schools is under a serious threat. Launched about 25 years ago, this unique scheme was designed to serve a dual purpose. The handloom cloth...

-Down to Earth The government is clueless about incentives it has promised under its Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to bring every family under the formal banking system ON AUGUST 15, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extending the financial inclusion plan of the former UPA government and renamed it Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), he was well aware of its limitations. Though launched in 2010, the plan had miserably failed...

-The Hindu MANSINGH THANDA (KRISHNA): Barothu Gandhi, 38, one among dozens of patients diagnosed with kidney ailments reportedly due to consumption of fluoride water in Lambada tribal habitations in Krishna district, had already sold his two-acre of land to meet his monthly medical expenses since 2011. Bed-ridden for most of the day at his house in a sleepy tribal hamlet of Mansing Thanda in A. Konduru mandal, Mr. Gandhi was still...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a country where obesity and diabetes, on account of high intake of fatty food, is turning into an epidemic, a unique health crisis is faced by few others. Top nutritionists working at AIIMS say the fat intake among rural population continues to be significantly lower than the Recommendatory Dietary Allowance (RDA) leading to serious health issues in them. In last 20-30 years, scientists claim, the...