-The Times of India Over two crore households have been denied work under the fund-starved rural job guarantee scheme in the past eight months. This is a direct result of the deep cuts in funding of the scheme and various other changes initiated by the Modi government. With the employment situation still dire and the new government's long-term efforts to catalyze industrial growth still on the drawing board, the failure of...

-The Times of India Mumbai: Crimes against women in Mumbai soared 59% during April 2013 to March 2014 compared with the previous financial year while convictions in serious offences stood at an abysmal 8%. Data compiled by the NGO Praja concludes that understaffing and multiplicity of tasks in the police force are compromising investigation and, in turn, affecting conviction. A third of Mumbai's population feels unsafe living in the city, according to...

-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 Times of India NEW DELHI: More than 50% of land allotted to special economic zones (SEZs) across the country remains idle, and its very purpose was defeated with no significant increase in employment even as the government's revenue foregone was to the tune of Rs 83,000 crore between 2007 and 2013, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has found. Exposing systemic weaknesses in tax administration, a performance audit on SEZs by...

-The Hindu Tamil Nadu has come to realise in a most tragic manner the high mortality risk faced by preterm babies (those born before 37 completed weeks of gestation), and its unfinished task of saving these lives. Of the 13 neonates who died recently in district hospitals in Dharmapuri and Salem, five were preterm. Both preterm and low birth weight babies have died of the usual causes, such as respiratory...