-FirstPost.com Preparation of budgets is traditionally an incremental process: the first railway budget of the present government took off from the landscape sketched in the 12th Five Year Plan. Expansion, modernisation and development of railway infrastructure were to be given thrust through 3Ps: Public-Private Partnerships. Budget 2016-17, however, promises a new horizon on two fronts: overcoming challenges through 3Rs: Reorganising, Restructuring and Rejuvenating Indian railways, and introducing pillars of strategy, including zero-based...

-The India Express For the health, dignity and safety of women in slums, a comprehensive policy for the maintenance and construction of public toilets is needed. Living in a slum in Bandra West close to the railway station, Vijaya wakes up every morning to anxiety over the trek she and her daughter must take into the open, carrying water cans, to answer nature’s call. They could use the community toilet nearby, but...

-The Indian Express ICDS, the primary scheme targeting malnutrition, needs to be broadened with the help of the National Nutrition Mission. Every once in a while, a discussion or debate starts on malnutrition. On a debated issue, precision is desirable. Initially, there were several discussions on the word “malnutrition”, which can technically mean over-nutrition, as well as under-nutrition. But now, there is global consensus on three terms. First, for a given reference age,...

-TheWire.in The minister suggested making prenatal sex determination mandatory for all pregnancies to avoid sex selective abortions. Doctors and women’s rights activists on what this will mean in practice. New Delhi: How do we improve the low status of girl children in India, or even ensure their existence and survival once the technologies that enable sex-selective abortion are widespread? On Monday, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi presented a...

-Scroll.in The Women and Child Development minister said there is no formal proposal on the matter being considered, though she feels the move will bring down female foeticide rates. After reports quoted Union minister Maneka Gandhi saying that prenatal sex determination tests should be made compulsory to track women pregnant with girls, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader issued a clarification on Tuesday. The Women and Child Development minister's office said the reports...