-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, the target is to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by three quarters between 1990 & 2015. Based on the UN Inter-Agency Expert Group's MMR estimates in the publication "Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2013", the target for MMR is estimated to be 140 per 1,00,000 live births by the year 2015 taking a...

-Down to Earth Chhattisgarh's much appreciated public distribution scheme is falling apart due to corruption and mismanagement As chhattisgarh prepares for panchayat election at the end of the year, the fate of ration card holders in the state is in limbo. During a verification drive in July-August, the state government found almost 1.3 million "unnecessary" ration cards in the possession of people. These cards have been taken back by the government and...

-The Hindu Without adequate preparations for its consequences, the State has gone ahead with the merger of small schools with the larger ones. Is there a way out? The Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's act of consulting an astrologer in Rajasthan may be a personal choice, but her mention of possible amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act has definitely created a mess in the State. While she has...

-The New Indian Express BHUBANESWAR: In its bid to ensure food security and sustainability in agriculture sector, the Odisha Government has woken up to the need of promoting organic farming. In its draft Organic Farming Policy, the Agriculture Department has proposed formation of a State Organic Commodity Board which will not only facilitate organic farming but also promote trade of organic commodities through knowledge sharing. The Department has decided to take a leaf...

-The Hindu The failure of Narendra Modi's infrastructure plan reflects the larger failure of the Indian imagination, a mindless enumeration of ideas that have little or no bearing on Indian reality. When much of what is built is a half-baked imitation of disparate items tried and tested elsewhere, it becomes hard to fault Mr. Modi. If the recent image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi swinging on the jhula with Chinese President Xi...