-The Hindu The Araku valley saw its first childbirth in a hospital, thanks to young nurses drawn from the tribes themselves On an ordinary workday, 27-year-old Pramila Bariki hikes up steep slopes, across fields, through ankle-deep rivulets, often walking up to 14 km. She gets a ride until the road is motorable, from which point she has to walk. Her job? She doles out healthcare advice to mothers and children in the remotest...

-PTI Move to help farmers, decrease stocks New Delhi: Most states have agreed to supply milk for two days a week through Mid-Day Meal and Anganwadi schemes in order to absorb surplus stock and ensure better prices to farmers, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary Tarun Shridhar said. Farmers are in distress in key milk producing states like Maharasthra because of fall in the procurement rate amid surplus milk production, piling up of skimmed...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: The Centre’s proposal to change the definition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has been opposed by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate that deals with economic issues. In February, the Centre decided to revise the definition of MSMEs on the basis of turnover instead of the existing methodology of classifying them as per cost of plant and machinery. To give effect...

-Hindustan Times Election Commission of India (ECI) is outgunned when it comes to confronting those who circumvent existing campaign finance rules and lacks power to sanction candidates. It is a truism to note that political finance sits at the heart of corruption in modern India. While politicians publicly lament the status quo, they privately profit from the current system. Therefore, the fact that the Narendra Modi government has made reforming political finance...

-Hindustan Times In India, it’s difficult to find accurate estimates of campaign spending. Research also shows that illicit funds are Important in funding elections in the country. Despite constant chatter about the massive (and rising) costs of election campaigns in India, there is a dearth of credible data on the actual costs, the sources of support for candidates, and the implications of campaign costs on governance between elections. However, newly available survey data...