-The Business Standard Expenses such as employment guarantees and loan waivers are, in effect, subsidies that are classified differently in government accounts Over the last few years, the government announced many policy initiatives that purportedly help the weaker sections of our society. Schemes initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) or the distribution of free and affordable food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are examples...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government would soon invite applications from people wishing to be included as beneficiaries under the Food Security Act to be implemented in the state from July 2014. Application forms will also be available online. A six-member committee headed by the development commissioner would be constituted to chalk out the modalities for identification of the beneficiaries. Under the provisions of the act, each beneficiary would be entitled...

-The Hindustan Times 2.5 million people have died in last 30 years due to natural disasters and global economic losses caused by extreme weather events have risen to just under $200 billion a year over the last decade, a report by the World Bank showed on Monday. As the global climate continues to change, the costs and damages from extreme weather related to warming planet are growing and while all countries...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The success rate of women candidates in Lok Sabha elections has been coming down sharply over the years as more and more of them contest, but it still remains much higher than their male counterparts. The finding is part of an analysis by the Central Statistical Office of the Ministry of statistics and Programme Implementation that has studied the pattern from the second general elections...

-The Indian Express For the first time, the government is doing a headcount of businesses run by members of the transgender community. The exercise is a part of the sixth economic census that counts the number of establishments in the country. The issue had cropped up during national level discussions where some states and activists sought this data. The aim was to get a gender dimension of entrepreneurship, said a government official. "Male...