-FirstPost.com Preparation of budgets is traditionally an incremental process: the first railway budget of the present government took off from the landscape sketched in the 12th Five Year Plan. Expansion, modernisation and development of railway infrastructure were to be given thrust through 3Ps: Public-Private Partnerships. Budget 2016-17, however, promises a new horizon on two fronts: overcoming challenges through 3Rs: Reorganising, Restructuring and Rejuvenating Indian railways, and introducing pillars of strategy, including zero-based...

-The Telegraph Nagpur: Delhi Metro architect E. Sreedharan has suggested that investments in upgrading existing railway systems should take priority over high-speed bullet Trains the Centre aims to roll out, his comments coming days before the rail budget. "Eventually, we must go for bullet Trains but this is not the right time to invest in that system," Sreedharan, referred to as the "Metro Man" for his role in building the network in...

-The Hindu Efforts to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools are fraught with challenges, say experts. Chennai: The last few weeks have been hectic for Sangeetha* (name changed) as she has been looking to admit her 11-year-old son into a new school for the coming academic year. “My son has mild Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD) and was studying in a private school in Mogappair but he and 17 other children with special...

-The Hindu Whether the memory of the odd-even experiment will inspire us to lead healthier lives depends on the willingness of the so-called aspirational classes to engage in a deeper debate on development It will take time and expertise to assess the odd-even experiment in Delhi, but there is no doubt that it was educative. It taught the government that the public is now ready to support radical measures on air pollution....

-Livemint.com It’s time to look at the deleterious environmental impact of subsidies so as to attain correct pricing of resources A few days before Delhi’s odd-even rule—a road rationing scheme in which odd- and even-numbered cars were allowed to ply on roads on alternate days—was to be implemented, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia appeared on a television channel to answer questions on the rule. During the show, Sisodia admitted that the...