-Livemint.com An information economy requires an attitudinal shift in society about the critical role of quality public data In God we trust; all others must bring data." This quote is widely attributed to the American statistician W. Edwards Deming, who helped to develop sampling techniques in the 1940s that are still used by the US department of the census. Since Deming's time, the use of data for decision support for business and...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The Centre is considering setting up a National Employment Guarantee Fund, which will facilitate the transfer of wages directly to the accounts of MGNREGA beneficiaries, reducing instances of delayed payments under the employment guarantee scheme and preventing leakages. Please click here to read more. ...

-The Guardian Universal healthcare is often presented as an idealistic goal that remains out of reach for all but the richest nations. That's not the case, writes Amartya Sen. Look at what has been achieved in Rwanda, Thailand and Bangladesh Twenty-five hundred years ago, the young Gautama Buddha left his princely home, in the foothills of the Himalayas, in a state of agitation and agony. What was he so distressed about?...

-The Indian Express Rural wages in India have registered an average annual growth of 3.8 per cent in November, the lowest since July 2005, according to Labour Bureau data. The 3.8 per cent year-on-year increase is a significant drop relative to the two-digit growth rates prevailing until June, and the peak 20 per cent-plus levels of 2011 (see graph). "The numbers confirm the findings in our mid-year economic analysis that inflation is...

-Business Standard The ordinance has returned near absolute power of discretion in land acquisition, except in tribal areas, into the hands of the bureaucracy yet again Even after the National Democratic Alliance's land ordinance, governments will still need the consent of tribal gram sabhas in all Schedule V and VI areas of the country before acquiring land for themselves or for public-private projects. While the land ordinance has done away with the need...