-Outlook People should cut use of power if they cannot afford high electricity tariff, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said today, a prescription that evoked criticism. Under attack for the hike in power tariff, Dikshit also sought to justify it, saying the increase in cost of power production has led to the rise in electricity rates. Stating that the consumers will have to pay if they want round-the-clock electricity supply, Dikshit went on...

-The Times of India THENI: Villages near Bodi Hills in Tamil Nadu are seeing a quiet revolution in animal-rearing facilitated by technology. Many women in these villages, who are involved in goat farming, are harnessing the power of the cell phone, for managing their herds better. Every day, they receive about five voice messages on their mobile phones about scientific methods of goat rearing which they say, have helped them improve...

-The Times of India It isn't just foreign investors who would have remembered the last Budget as a tough one. Even women lost out as the government withdrew tax benefits that were introduced in the form of higher tax exemption LIMit in 2000-2001. In 2000-01, Yashwant Sinha, the then finance minister, had introduced a special provision under which the basic tax exemption LIMit for women was pegged higher than that for men....

-Down to Earth Budget to start process of reforming Central rural schemes, 45 years after first demand India’s rural development programmes are in for an overhaul. After the approval of the 12th Plan by the National Development Council (NDC) on December 27, 2012, the government has started restructuring of the behemoth called Centrally sponsored schemes (CSSs). In the Plan (2012-17) the Centre has committed Rs 541,276 crore for CSSs covering rural development,...

-The United Nations Unless Africa’s leaders prioritize environmental and health issues, and prevent the degradation of health-promoting food and medicinal plants, people’s health and productivity will continue to suffer, warns a new report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Africa’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the world and its economy is expanding at a commensurate rate, yet not enough focus has been placed on the role...