-Live Mint India’s water security outlook has been labelled ‘hazardous’ in report published by Asian Development Bank India’s water security outlook for 2013 has been labelled “hazardous” in a report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) titled Asian Water Development Outlook 2013.   A hazardous outlook implies inadequate levels of public investment, regulations and enforcement related to water. India was given the lowest water security index rating of 1 (on a scale of...

-The Indian Express Setting up women-only banks overlooks the reasons for their exclusion The women-only bank mentioned in the finance minister's budget speech is like flowers and chocolates — a sweet thought but just as unsubstantial. Financial exclusion of women is a real problem. It deserves far greater effort than sops like a women-only bank. Such a bank also runs counter to the logic of mainstreaming, rather than ghettoising, gender issues. It is...

-The Hindu Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Wednesday demanded an independent inquiry into the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which has pointed out serious lapses and wrongdoings in the Rs. 52,000-crore farm debt waiver scheme. Ms. Karat was talking to journalists at the party office here, before resuming her programme of “Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha,” which began from Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on March 4. She said...

-The Economic Times Finance Minister P Chidambaram has allocated Rs 80,194 crore to Ministry of Rural Development in Budget 2013. Giving the emphasis on education, Chidambaram said Budget 2013 will allocate Rs 65,867 crore to the HRD ministry. My budget's overarching goal is to create opportunities for our youth, he said. More than the fiscal deficit, Chidambaram said his greater worry is the current account deficit. In his Budget speech, he said the 'passion...

-PTI Madhya Pradesh Sanitation Vision 2025 aims to make urban areas in the state free of open defecation by 2017 and achieve a near complete sanitation access through provision of individual household level toilets by 2025 Madhya Pradesh government has charted an ambitious plan to completely stop open defecation in urban areas by 2017 and provide sanitation access through individual household toilets by 2025. "The 'Madhya Pradesh Sanitation Vision 2025' (MPSV) has been...