-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday vowed to push through change at a fast pace but said subsidies should be continued to protect the interests of the poor. Addressing the Economic Times Global Business Summit, the PM struck an optimistic note to say, "The New Age India has begun its transition, from a winter of subdued achievement lasting three to five years, to a new spring that...

-Down to Earth The situation of India's farmers has only become grimmer in the past decade, according to the latest National Sample Survey Office report The lot of the embattled Indian farmer only keeps on getting worse with the passage of time. In the last 10 years, the voluminous debt of Indian agricultural households has increased almost four-fold whereas their undersized monthly income from cultivation has increased three-fold. Even the number of...

-The Indian Express For Arvind Panagariya, the first Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, policy-making, rather than planning, will be his top priority. In his first interaction with officers of the erstwhile Planning Commission, he spoke at length on the need to push through labour reforms and strengthen the SME (small and medium enterprise) segment - the backbone of manufacturing - to take India up several notches in the competition ladder. On Tuesday, his...

-Down to Earth In a Union budget wish list, civil society organisations call for course correction in policy and improving access to healthcare in India The government's focus on improving health indicators stated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has worked against the aims of universal health coverage, said experts at the National Convention on Union Budget 2015-16 held in Delhi on January 8 and 9. They recommended that the focus must...

-Down to Earth The programme does not address challenges that farmers face in eastern states Farmers in Jharkhand have not derived significant benefits from the new Green Revolution programme initiated by the Centre in 2010-11, according to a report by non-profits working with the farmers in the state. The report claims that the government tried to implement the 1960s model of Green Revolution that increased agricultural production in Punjab and Haryana, without...