-Livemint The development economist on the Modi government's initiatives and his stand on them, and MGNREGS The Narendra Modi-led government should consider replacing inefficient subsidies with a basic monthly income for all citizens, says Pranab Bardhan , emeritus professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Bardhan, who recently sparred with economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya in a debate over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),...

Child sex ratio (CSR) in India has declined from 927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011 (girls per 1,000 boys), according to a new report entitled Missing Girls: Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India (Census 2011). Of the total 640 districts in the country, 429 districts have experienced decline in CSR (see the link below).   Of these 429 districts, 26 districts exhibited drastic decline (of 50 points or more),...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government's price control measure for essential medicines has had an unexpected fallout - several of these drugs, including those for treatment of chronic ailments such as high uric acid levels, diabetes and acne, are either in short supply or have gone missing from chemist shops. Among the drugs facing shortage are Zyloric (prescribed for uric acid control), Ocid (acidity), CCM (calcium supplement) and Etroxin (a...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The parliamentary estimates committee headed by BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi, in its first report tabled on Thursday, on arsenic in ground water, has criticized the Centre for "neglecting" the serious issue that impacts at least 7 crore people across six states, according to CSIR estimates (data from different ministries and departments on the subject varies widely, the committee found). The panel has recommended that the...

-Tehelka The government has failed to implement the law and stop the use of ART for determining the sex of unborn children. On 14 February 2003, the term ‘pre-conception' was added to the title of the law that prohibited couples and doctors from determining the sex of an unborn child. The new version of the law came to be known as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. The amendment...