-Agence-France Presse Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that the country's public health system had "collapsed" in a blunt assessment of his government's failure to extend a social safety net for the poor. Mr Ramesh, known as a maverick with often outspoken views, stressed that 70 per cent of spending on health was out of people's own pockets, making it the single most important reason for indebtedness in rural areas. "We all...

-The Indian Express Economy Govt drafts plan to boost farming, allied sectors with Central fund. Kolkata: To boost the state’s economy, the Trinamool Congress government has set up an ambitious target of 8 per cent growth rate in agriculture and allied sectors for the next fiscal year. The current growth rate in agriculture is a mere 2.6 per cent. A draft proposal prepared by the Agriculture Department on the ways to achieve the...

-The Hindu Governments, industry, civil society meetin Azerbaijan to discuss future of Internet India has decided to take a decisive stand on Internet governance at a conference being hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 6-9. An indication of the importance that India accords to the global dialogue on Internet governance is evident from the fact that Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal is himself leading the government delegation, which will include senior officials like...

-Live Mint All file notings can be made public now except those explicitly exempted  The Union cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw controversial draft amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act that sought to restrict disclosure of government file notings. The move allayed the concerns of rights activists. The draft amendments would have restricted disclosure of file notings only to social and developmental issues. The government had to drop the move following...

-Live Mint The OECD forum is discussing how to make the aspirations of the common man relevant to policymaking New Delhi: In the face of a deepening economic crisis and social resistance to austerity measures, world leaders are considering a collective experiment to include parameters such as well-being and happiness in national and international statistics. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) World Forum on Measuring Well-being for Development Policy Making being...