-The United Nations Urging greater efforts to identify and address the gaps that prevent the most disadvantaged of the world's 2.2 billion children from enjoying their rights, the United Nations released an innovative new report today spotlighting the importance of data in targeting funds and action to reach those who need it most. "Data have made it possible to save and improve the lives of millions of children, especially the most deprived,"...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: It is well known that quality of life greatly varies amongst different states within India. Some states have greater industrial or agricultural output, higher income levels, better educational and health indicators while others are still struggling with backwardness. But what is much less known is that within states too there are wide and astonishing variations. State level averages often hide huge and unconscionable disparity on...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has accepted before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General on UPA's Rs 52,000 crore farm debt waiver scheme were correct. The auditor in its test check had discovered large-scale irregularities where undeserving farmers were given waiver benefit - at least one-third of the total disbursement were found questionable. On Thursday, the PAC will meet here to give...

-The Indian Express Social audits should not be judged by state response alone. They create awareness about rights and create engaged citizens. This article is in response to Farzana Afridi's ‘Social audit isn't enough' (IE, January 22). Social audits have been enshrined as one of the transparency and accountability tools in the MGNREGA. Such accountability mechanisms aim to strengthen the otherwise weak institutions of delivery as they engage the beneficiaries in the...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The workforce in agriculture and allied activities has come down by 11 per cent during the last decade, signalling rise in secondary and tertiary sectors, self-employment and regular jobs, according to a study. "The number of people depending upon agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood has come down from over 60 per cent to 49 per cent between 1999-2000 and 2011-12," the Assocham study said. "The number of...