-IANS New Delhi: India’s cash-driven agri sector continues to reel under the effects of demonetisation, with farmers growing fruits and vegetables suffering “huge losses”, say farm leaders who want the Union budget to “compensate” them for these losses. Amid reports of farmers dumping or refusing to harvest crops like tomatoes and peas due to a crash in prices as traders did not have the cash to purchase the produce, farmer leader Ajay...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The AAP government spent Rs 30 lakhs on advertisements for student loans' scheme, but only three students got a mere Rs 3.15 lakhs till December last, Swaraj India today claimed, as it sought to rupture the "tall claims" made by the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation in the field of education. The Higher Education and Skill Guarantee Scheme is Delhi government's flagship programme. Addressing a press conference, Yogendra Yadav said doubling of...

-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy As one of the world’s largest rural connectivity endeavours, the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project has been the subject of immense policy interest for the potential it holds to deliver high speed broadband internet to rural India. The building of infrastructure on a scale of this kind was acknowledged as an audacious move owing to the nature of transformation that this could...

-Down to Earth Eighteen months and Rs 4,275.31 crores later, not even 0.1 per cent of the project could be completed "By the time the nation completes 75 years of its Independence (2022), every family will have a pucca house with water connection, toilet facilities, 24x7 electricity supply and access." It was May 2014 and the Modi-led government had just come to power. A year later, during the presentation of Annual...

-The Hindu In households with a limited food budget, or where there is no refrigerator to store leftover food, the person who eats last very often gets less or lower quality food India has a major child malnutrition problem. The Rapid Survey on Children (2012-13) found that about 4 in 10 children are stunted. On average, children who are stunted do less well in school, earn less, and die sooner than children...