-Hindustan Times For Martina George, 21, putting together Rs 20 lakh to pursue a degree in Medicine in Australia would have been impossible. “Coming from a middle-class background, my family couldn’t pay that amount,” George says. So, instead, her community stepped in. The Bombay Catholic Panchayat and a church from Kerala contributed with a loan and scholarship to meet those expenses. “My school and junior college education in India was almost free...

-The Hindu With clean energy access a high priority for India, we must look beyond kerosene, ensuring alternatives After the success of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)/cooking gas, the government has now decided to launch DBT for kerosene (DBTK), starting with pilots in the State of Jharkhand. While the move is well-intentioned, it may not be simple to implement at scale, and may even fail to eliminate the...

-Livemint.com Uttar Pradesh fared better under BSP rule than SP regime in economic activities In an attack against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday said that if the people of the state vote for development, they would elect the Samajwadi Party (SP) government again as it has outpaced the previous government on the development front. A quick analysis of some of the development indicators in...

-The Hindu ‘It has reduced socioeconomic disparities in healthcare’ A new study brings in first conclusive evidence of the role played by Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in reducing ‘socioeconomic disparities’ existing in maternal care. The JSY was launched in 2005 as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to improve maternal and neonatal health by promotion of institutional deliveries (childbirth in hospitals). According to a working paper by Ruchi Jain (NCAER), Sonalde Desai...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Friday ordered that no political party shall henceforth either use or allow the use of public funds or public place or government machinery for promoting itself or the symbol allotted to it. The commission's directive came on a direction of the Delhi High Court asking it to issue norms for restraining political parties from using public money to propagate their poll symbol. Sources...