Two recent reports show that this social sector scheme has had a causal impact in improving lives, especially for women and children Fourteen million people escaped falling into poverty under the world’s largest anti-poverty programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In 10 years of its existence, the scheme reduced poverty by 32 per cent. Recent data also shows that more women are drawing cash incomes, more children...

-The Hindu Across the country, unless adequate jobs are created for the large labour force, the frustration of the youth is not likely to be contained. In Gujarat, the Patels or Patidars, who constitute about 15 per cent of the State’s population, are an economically and politically dominant upper caste. As successful farmers, as small and big industrialists, as traders as well as non-resident Gujaratis, spread practically all over the world, they...

-The Times of India This may come as a shocker. Newer and more expensive categories of insulin are being aggressively "pushed" by drug companies, and, hence, increasingly prescribed by physicians for diabetics. The newer, second generation (rapid and long acting) versions are priced around Rs 500, three to four times costlier than the older versions - increasing the cost of treatment. Diabetes is growing alarmingly in India, with over 65 million...

-Hindustan Times Dashrath Manjhi of Gehlaur village near Gaya in Bihar spent most of his life carving a path through a mountain, armed with just a hammer and chisel. Last week, his story was released as a film, a tribute to the man who challenged a flawed and negligent system. While Manjhi's is an epic tale, he is not entirely alone. Across the country, individuals have taken on heroic challenges, stepping in...

-The Hindu Despite growing clamour for pesticide-free produce, doubts persist about the capability of organic farming to generate high yields Kerala: Organic farming began finding momentum in Kerala since the unveiling of a policy in 2010 that set the goal of converting the entire agricultural production in the State to organic within 10 years. That policy announced by the then Left Democratic Front government is now being fast-tracked by the present United...