-The Telegraph New Delhi: Maneka Gandhi has asked non-profit organisations to move beyond stereotypical skills like stitching and tailoring to "specific vocations" while applying for funds to train women and warned of a crackdown if the course didn't lead to employment. Sources in Maneka's women and child development ministry said the advisory, sent to all NGOs working with the department, had basically two objectives: weed out fraudulent applicants and impart skills with...

-Hindustan Times Massive budget cuts in the education sector in the 2015-16 Budget got activists and NGOs working in the sector worried. The outlay for programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, National Nutrition Mission, Rashtriya Madhayamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) and mid-day meal scheme have seen significant cuts. The allocation for ICDS Scheme has been reduced from Rs 18,195 crore in 2014-15 budget estimates to Rs 8,335.8 crore in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Under watch across the world over the alarming quality of air in its national capital, are Indian authorities trying to shoot the messenger? The Delhi Pollution Control Committee, which runs a real-time air pollution monitoring system, has been rapped for releasing "raw" or "unedited" air quality data on its website. In a meeting last week, the Union environment ministry has decided that DPCC's data will be...

-The Hindu Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first indigenously developed and manufactured rotavirus vaccine on Monday here. Every year, diarrhoea caused by rotavirus results in up to 10 lakh hospitalisations and kills nearly 80,000 children under the age of 5. The three-dose ROTAVAC vaccine, developed through a collaboration between India and the United States, is expected to help bring about a significant reduction in the 100,000 infant deaths caused by...

-Business-Standard Even funds for disaster relief being impeded when these come from international bodies Late last year, Caritas India, a venerable and respected voluntary organisation that has responded with alacrity to one Indian humanitarian crisis after another, sent out an appeal through its international network for funds for contributions to relief and rehabilitation work in Jammu and Kashmir, where devastating floods and landslides in September had claimed 282 lives and damaged 2.53...