-The Hindu The Araku valley saw its first childbirth in a hospital, thanks to young nurses drawn from the tribes themselves On an ordinary workday, 27-year-old Pramila Bariki hikes up steep slopes, across fields, through ankle-deep rivulets, often walking up to 14 km. She gets a ride until the road is motorable, from which point she has to walk. Her job? She doles out healthcare advice to mothers and children in the remotest...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: The Centre’s proposal to change the definition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has been opposed by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate that deals with economic issues. In February, the Centre decided to revise the definition of MSMEs on the basis of turnover instead of the existing methodology of classifying them as per cost of plant and machinery. To give effect...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: The Telangana government has released ?5,925 crore for the second phase of the Rythu Bandhu scheme for the rabi season. This is part of the ?11,925-crore allocated in the 2018-19 Budget for the scheme that seeks to provide financial assistance of ?4,000 each to farmers for every acre they own. The scheme is aimed at providing liquidity to farmers to take care of the purchase of inputs ahead...

-The Hindu Business Line Tested across AP, this technique, though devoid of chemicals, has helped boost productivity and cut production costs In the last fortnight, two announcements to revive the sagging farm sector evoked differing responses. While the announcement by the government to hike minimum support price for selected crops generated political noise, a more nuanced approach by NITI Aayog seeking State governments’ support in reducing cost of crop production was...

-Hindustan Times Election Commission of India (ECI) is outgunned when it comes to confronting those who circumvent existing campaign finance rules and lacks power to sanction candidates. It is a truism to note that political finance sits at the heart of corruption in modern India. While politicians publicly lament the status quo, they privately profit from the current system. Therefore, the fact that the Narendra Modi government has made reforming political finance...