-The Indian Express The NDA initially reintroduced DBT for LPG in 54 districts in mid-November 2014, with nationwide roll out to all districts from January 2015. A study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) states that the government’s claims of savings due to a shift towards direct benefit transfer (DBT) for LPG (also called PAHAL) are “large overestimates”. IISD has shown that as against the publicly touted figure of...

-Business Standard No 'smart city' will be created in the next five years, though a successful programme could see several smart colonies come up across the country The National Democratic Alliance government's ambitious Smart Cities programme will at best be able set up only 100 pilot projects in the first five years. Contrary to general perception, no 'smart city' will be created in the next five years, though a successful programme could...

-The Indian Express An analysis of NCRB’s prison data of states with significant Muslim population also revealed that in some states the ratio of percentage of Muslim undertrials in jails to that of the population is almost 2:1. Muslims make up for over 21 per cent of all undertrials lodged in various jails in the country even as their population is just over 14 per cent of the country’s total population,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Studying mathematics scores of the same set of kids in multiple rounds of tests, a researcher has concluded that kids learn better in their mother-tongue. Kids attending Telugu medium schools - data was gathered in Andhra Pradesh - "on average perform significantly better as compared to English medium students" once factors such as native ability, household characteristics and "parental aspirations" are considered and "controlled for." P...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Integrated Child Development Services scheme and maternity entitlements can play a crucial role in improving children's food and nutrition security. Both interventions are part of the National Food Security Act, though maternity entitlements have yet to be activated. Odisha has experimented with several creative policies, including initiating a maternity entitlements scheme in 2011 before the NFSA was enacted, introduction of eggs and decentralised procurement of take-home...