-The United Nations More than 360 million people have disabling hearing loss, according to new global estimates released by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which adds that production of hearing aids is not keeping up with the urgent demand. “Current production of hearing aids meets less than 10 per cent of global need,” WHO’s Shelly Chadha of the Department of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness said in a news release...

-PTI The jobs scheme has expedited the financial inclusion of the rural population, says Manmohan Singh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said bank and post office accounts opened under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) will help the government provide direct cash transfers to the people. “MNREGA has brought momentum in the financial inclusion of our rural population. Besides direct financial benefit, the scheme has given many indirect benefits...

-Live Mint In Parliament address, Mukherjee says direct cash transfers will cut leakages and bring benefits to the poorest Acknowledging that growing aspirations, particularly among the youth, are going largely unmet, the government has signalled a policy makeover, including undertaking “difficult decisions”. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) also indicated that it was looking to the direct benefit transfer scheme based on the Aadhaar or unique identity system to restore the feel-good factor...

-The Economic Times BANGALORE: It is one of the most expensive and ambitious projects in India's technology history connecting 2,50,000 gram panchayats in the country with a fibre optic network. It would need Rs 21,000 crore and as it is being planned now, the project needs exceptional project management, cutting-edge technology, and close coordination between several government agencies. While the government is preparing to start the project in the next two months,...

-The Indian Express Addressing an auditorium brimming with at least 2,000 people at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen, at a panel discussion on 'Hunger and Nutrition', laid out his vision for why food security should get top priority in the country. Outside the hallowed halls of IIT Delhi, the UPA's National Food Security Bill is being debated publicly in states and the Standing Committee...