-The Telegraph   Officials are set to propose to the Narendra Modi government that the UPA's blockbuster rural job scheme be restricted to select districts as the decision in 2008 to extend it to all districts was not required. The officials of the rural development ministry are expected to tell the new minister that the funds allocated for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) were not adequate for national...

-Down to Earth   Delhi High Court exempts four private hospitals from treating the poor for free. Experts fear other hospitals will follow Many a poor patient has benefitted from the Supreme Court's 2011 order which mandates that all private hospitals which received land at a lower price from the government have to treat a certain number of people from the economically weaker sections (EWS) for free. Take the case of four-year-old Shagun, born...

-The Business Standard   Different economists have arrived at varying figures to assess the state's agricultural growth. The author tries to understand the rationale behind these conflicting numbers As Narendra Modi, having led the government in Gujarat for 13 years, heads to New Delhi to try and replicate what is called the Gujarat model on a national level, the country's leading agriculture economists are engaged in a fascinating debate over the agriculture growth...

-Down to Earth   Faulty implementation of FRA said to be a reason for party winning just three of the 41 tribal seats in the country However, most of the tribal seats this time have been won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and regional parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), YSR Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) (see list of seats below). It is strange that the...

-Financial Chronicle   Forecasts on possible monsoon behaviour are not very encouraging. There is a possibility of El Nino factors causing further problems. More recently, our farmers in parts of north and central India experienced the fury of hailstorms and heavy rains. Climate change further complicates the possibility of providing accurate advance estimates of monsoon behaviour. This is not only true in our country, but also around the world. California, for example,...