-The Hindu India’s labour participation rate, very low by world standards, fell sharply after demonetisation. Women bore the brunt Monthly measurement of the unemployment rate is one of the requirements of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SDDS — India was one of the early signatories —was established in 1996 to help countries access the international capital markets by providing adequate economic and financial information...

-IANS NEW DELHI: To ensure timely health assistance in traffic-congested areas and small lanes, the Delhi government on Thursday launched bike ambulance services. The bikes, to be known as the First Responder Vehicles, will have a portable oxygen cylinder, first aid kit and dressing materials, air-splints, gps and communication device, among others. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the fleet of 16 bikes at Delhi Secretariat along with Health Minister Satyendar Jain. This will...

-The Times of India SURAT/ NEW DELHI: Surat is showing the way to Delhi and other big cities that are struggling to manage garbage spilling out of ‘dhalaos’ and filling the air with foul smell. The city’s municipal body has installed 43 underground garbage bins, each of which can contain up to 1.5 tonnes of waste as a part of the Smart City Mission and these are fitted with sensors to...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The cumulative value of cash, liquor and other bribes to voters seized by the Election Commission during the Karnataka Assembly polls is Rs 150 crore. The seizure had been Rs 193.29 crore in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and Rs 130.99 in Tamil Nadu in 2016. Director-general (expenditure) Dilip Sharma said 136 expenditure observers, 1,557 flying squads and 2,181 static surveillance teams with gps-enabled vehicles had been deployed in Karnataka. The...

  One of the salient features of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005) is that there are provisions in it to ensure transparency and accountability. Section 17(2) of the MGNREGA says that the gram sabha shall conduct regular social audits of all the projects under the scheme taken up within the gram panchayat (GP). In addition to that, Section 17(3) of the MGNREGA states that the GP shall make...