The fourteenth Public Accounts Committee (2014-15) report, submitted to the 16th Lok Sabha in April this year, has found that despite various interim orders issued by the Supreme Court from time to time (based on a writ petition that was filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties in April, 2001), the Government of India has failed to universalize the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. This means India has to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Cancer has emerged as the second-leading cause of death globally after cardiovascular diseases. Proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12% in 1990 to 15% in 2013 while the number of new cases almost doubled in India during the period. In India, deaths from the disease have increased by 60%, according to the latest report 'Global Burden of Cancer-2013', released worldwide on...

-The Indian Express Among the Modi government’s many hits was one crucial miss — agriculture. The Narendra Modi sarkar’s performance in the first year has at least five major achievements and one major miss. To ensure that this neglect does not become its Achilles’ heel, the Modi sarkar will have to focus on and initiate reforms in this weakest link in the chain — agriculture. Else, it will not let the Indian...

-PTI Raising serious questions about the quality of Ph.D holders in the country, a parliamentary panel has sought an Evaluation report to understand why suitable candidates were hard to find for vacant teaching posts. With over 7,000 research scholars being awarded Ph.D every year, the panel has suggested “reorienting” the entire system of Evaluation of Ph.D and other research scholars. In its report tabled in Parliament last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on...

-The Financial Express The BJP's resounding Lok Sabha victory after years of policy paralysis raised a widely-shared hope that the government, led by PM Narendra Modi, will put India back on track by resuming inclusive growth. And that agriculture and rural development would be at the centre of the agenda. Half the employment still comes from agriculture, though it contributes just 14% to the GDP. India contains the largest number of...