-The Hindu Business Line It's a huge exercise in collective cleanliness which needs massive funding and human resources. Cosmetics won't work At first glance, the government has not put its money where its mouth is. Just ₹2,625 crore have been provided for the Swachh Bharat Mission in the Budget. This is against ₹4,620 crore in 2014-15 and ₹3,500 crore the year before. The drop is puzzling till one looks at the Budget...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government has sought the corporate sector's help to finance its new Aahaar (food) scheme, under which rice and dalma would be served to people at lunchtime for Rs 5. The scheme would be launched on April 1, coinciding with the 79th foundation day of the state, in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. It would cater to 25,000 people every day. In Bhubaneswar, the subsidised food will...

-The Hindu FM's Budget speech dwelt on agriculture, public investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and social sector spending. States to be equal partners in economic growth; move to making India cashless society; social sector programmes to continue. Some of the challenges mentioned by the Finance Minister are: poor agricultural income, decline in manufacturing ; and the need for fiscal discipline. Here are sector-wise highlights: TAXATION 1 Abolition of Wealth Tax. 2 Additional 2% surcharge for the super...

-IPS News NEW DELHI: Despite being one of the world's fastest expanding economies, projected to clock seven-percent GDP growth in 2017, India - a nation of 1.2 billion - is trailing behind on many vital social development indices while also hosting one-fourth of the world's poor. While the United Nations prepares to wrap up a decade-and-a-half of poverty alleviation efforts, framed through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by the...

-The Hindu Business Line Through the ‘Sukrutham' scheme, the Kerala Government aims to take advanced cancer treatment to the poorest Kerala: "We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell," Lance Armstrong, champion cycle racer, who recovered from advanced testicular cancer once said about his battle against cancer. The American, fortunately, had the money to pay for the extremely expensive treatment. But, for the majority of 1.75 lakh...