-The Business Standard The National Optic Fibre Network project aims to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across the country with optical fibre The government is likely to miss the deadline for its dream project - National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across the country with optical fibre for offering 100 megabit per second (mbps) broadband services. The much-talked-about NOFN project, which was initiated in 2011 with the approval...

-Economic and Political Weekly     The Twelfth Five-Year Plan aims to foster more inclusive and sustainable Growth. Urban transport finds mention in its chapters on sustainable development, environment, and urban development, which focus not only on aspects of public transport, but also urban planning and governance. Identifying the three main themes that emerge from the Plan's recommendations, this paper takes a critical look at them. It comments on what appears to be...

-Live Mint/ Bloomberg As much as better policies and better tax system, it's the humble toilet that can be an engine of future Indian Growth On Tuesday, the United Nations marked its inaugural World Toilet Day, designed to draw attention to the fact that more than one-sixth of humanity still lacks indoor sanitation, and that the world needs new ideas and technologies to deal with one of the most basic...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre may make it mandatory that 10% of 'corporate social responsibility' funds are spent on the welfare of elderly persons and effect a ten-fold hike in the old-age pension, in what is likely to be a new focus on senior citizens in view of their rapidly growing numbers and challenging living conditions. According to the 'national policy on older persons' to be unveiled soon, the...

-The World Bank   Policy Interventions Can Turn the Tide, Says World Bank Report WASHINGTON: A new World Bank report warns that risky behaviors -smoking, using illicit drugs, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets, and unsafe sex- are increasing globally and pose a growing threat to the health of individuals, particularly in developing countries. The report looks at how individual choices that lead to these behaviors are formed and reviews the effectiveness of interventions...