-Outlook Bhubaneshwar: Prone to natural calamities like cyclone, flood and tsunami, Odisha government plans to construct about 30,000 pucca houses along state's coastline, besides setting up 162 cyclone and flood shelters in the coastal region. "We have plans to spend Rs 3 lakh each for 30,000 pucca houses in the coastline. The houses will be located within five km from coastline," Revenue and Disaster management minister S N Patro said in the...

-The Business Standard India has emerged as a "voice" in climate change and trade negotiations. The already industrialised countries say that India is obstinate, strident and unnecessarily obstructionist in crucial global debates. The problem is not that India is loud - this it needs to be. The fact is that, while ecological and economic globalisation are interlinked and irrevocable, there is a fundamental weakness in the overall rules that govern these...

-The Business Standard Berhampur (Odisha): The expert team of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday visited different areas of the cyclone Phailin-hit Ganjam district in Odisha to assess the damage caused due to the calamity. Divided in groups, the 14-member team along with the government officers visited different areas including slum pockets in Berhampur, fishermen and coastal villages in Ganjam, Chhatrapur and Rangeilunda blocks. The team led by the...

-The Hindu Hyderabad: The very severe cyclonic storm, 'Leher' which lay over southeast and adjoining central Bay of Bengal will intensify further and move west northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh coast near Machilipatnam on Thursday afternoon. On Tuesday it was said that the cyclone will cross the coast at Kakinada. Citing an IMD bulletin, Mr. C. Parthasarathi, Disaster Management Commissioner, said that rainfall would commence at many places in coastal Andhra from Wednesday...

-The Business Standard Expenses such as employment guarantees and loan waivers are, in effect, subsidies that are classified differently in government accounts Over the last few years, the government announced many policy initiatives that purportedly help the weaker sections of our society. Schemes initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) or the distribution of free and affordable food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are examples...