-TheWire.in Conditionalities related to utilising health services do not make any sense in the absence of a service guarantee, and only serve to blame the victims and not the system for its failures. Nearly six months after the prime minister announced maternity benefits of Rs 6,000 to pregnant and lactating mothers, the CABinet yesterday approved the implementation of the maternity benefits programme (MBP) – a scheme that will likely exclude a large...

-PTI Pregnant women and lactating mothers are eligible to receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three instalments. New Delhi:  The Modi government on Wednesday virtually halved the number of beneficiaries under its Maternity Benefit Programme (MBP) by restricting the scheme to firstborns instead of 'first two live births' as appliCABle earlier. PTI had earlier reported that reduced allocation of funds of Rs. 2700 crore for the scheme in the Union...

-Hindustan Times The amendments to the law will ensure that ministers, Members of Parliament and bureaucrats, don’t overstay in government bungalows. New Delhi: The Centre’s push to rid its limited living spaces of squatters got a fillip on Wednesday with the Union CABinet clearing amendments to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971. The amendments to the law will ensure that ministers, Members of Parliament and bureaucrats, don’t overstay in government...

-Hindustan Times A report on sugar price policy for 2015-16 by union agriculture ministry had highlighted that Maharashtra’s sugarcane cultivation, which is less than 4% of the total cropped area, consumes 70% of water needed for irrigation Following criticism over sugarcane crop guzzling potable water, particularly in drought-prone Marathwada, the state government is set to introduce a policy for shifting 50% of sugarcane farming on drip irrigation in the next two years. Statistics...

-Business Standard Activists, others question yield and bio-safety data; GM mustard can improve yields by 25-30% After many ifs and buts, the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard seems to have reached a decisive phase after the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recommended on Thursday that it be allowed.   The ministry of environment and forests will now decide on whether this herbicide-tolerant variety can become the first GM food crop to be...