A recently released report shows that only a few enterprises belonging to the labour-intensive Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector could take advantage of the 205 number of public schemes (available in October 2015) of various Ministries or Departments of the Government, as listed at the website www.clusterobservatory.in.   (Please click here to access the report on MSMEs and the challenges they face). Prepared by the Foundation for MSME Clusters...

-The Hindu If concurrent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were to be a reality, it would go against the political diversity essential for addressing the social diversity of India. Though spoken about for quite a few years, simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies seem to be fast on their way to becoming a matter of national concern. This proposal is not only being discussed in the Television studio, but...

-TheWire.in Finding a time period – keeping in mind exam schedules, agricultural cycles, festivals and public holidays – when elections can be held throughout the country may prove to be difficult. In a Television interview recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed that holding elections simultaneously for the parliament and the state assemblies needs to be seriously considered. It would save the country from the permanent electoral cycle, party politics and polarising issues...

-Scroll.in But the district health administration refutes claims of a 'mystery virus'. The causes of death were different in each case, they say. Just 10 minutes of rain in Sarfabad village in Noida township caused floods in its bylanes. Children who decided that it was time to play wading in the blackish sewage water. The roads are lined with mounds of garbage. On Friday, civic authorities had removed silt from the gutters...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: India's middle class has seen new entrants. Pani puri vendors, dosa sellers, carpenters, welders, launderers, drivers and cable TV technicians have all pulled themselves out of the clutches of poverty and leapt into a section of the middle class — the bedrock of the economy. A paper titled 'The Rise of the New Middle Class and the Role of Offshoring of Services', co-authored by the head of...