-Down to Earth Gives details to finance ministry on the impact of revised budget estimates on individual schemes The steep cut in budgetary allocations for social welfare schemes in an election year seems to have become a great cause of worry for Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. He has shot off a letter to finance minister P Chidambaram, expressing displeasure over the proposed Rs 15,000 crore funds cut in rural development...

-Down to Earth Ministers write protest letters to prime minister and finance minister, saying it would greatly impact ongoing schemes The Congress-led UPA government has been harping on its pro-poor schemes in the run up to the elections early next year. But it has effected a drastic cut in budgetary allocations for social welfare schemes. The move is reportedly prompted by the urgent need to contain current account deficit (CAD) to below...

-The Indian Express All emergency cardiology procedures at AIIMS will now be performed free of cost for patients in general wards. Emergency surgeries such as angioplasty (surgical widening of clogged vessels in the heart using tubes called stents), balloon angioplasty (insertion of a surgical balloon to open obstructed vessels), opening of blocked heart valves and insertion of pacemakers (battery operated devices to improve heart rates) will now all become free, the hospital...

-The Hindu ‘We'll consider extending Shaadi Bhagya to women from all communities' MYSORE (Karnataka): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday, said that the government was committed to ushering in a hunger-free State and shore up growth. Speaking at a public function at T. Narsipura after participating in the launch of various projects, including inauguration of a new bridge and laying the foundation stone for two new bridges, Mr. Siddaraiamaiah, said that the government had...

-The Hindu Denying basic amenities to residents of ‘unrecognised' slums is an affront to their dignity; resettling them fails to address their concerns and is unviable financially Since 2005, the Central government has given significant amounts of money to the States to improve conditions for the country's urban poor, first under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and more recently through the slow-moving Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). Unfortunately, very few...