-The Hindu Business Line ‘Increased participation of women in economic activity can boost economy’ New Delhi: When the theme for 2017 International Women’s Day was set as ‘Be Bold for Change’, little did anyone imagine that later that year Hollywood actress Ashley Judd would come out and speak up against film production and distribution house Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein who had sexually harassed her in the early years of her career. Judd proved...

-The Hindu UDAY scheme: Tamil Nadu ranked lowest on performance power distribution companies Chennai:  UDAY review finds little progress made in smart metering. Tamil Nadu has been ranked lowest in terms of State distribution companies’ quarterly performance as of December 2017, post joining the Centre’s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). The State had joined the scheme over a year ago. The scheme, covering 31 States and Union Territories, emphasises both financial turnaround and...

-Livemint.com Centre is soon going to issue a revised set of guidelines to address current challenges faced by the crop insurance scheme, says Ashish Bhutani, joint secretary at the agriculture ministry New Delhi: The prime minister’s flagship crop insurance scheme, which has seen an impressive rise in coverage and sum assured since its launch in 2016, is facing a number of challenges that are delaying claim settlements for farmers, a senior agriculture...

-The Hindu Business Line Better healthcare infrastructure, well-trained professionals, informed citizens and nutritious food score over index-induced competition The NITI Aayog’s report, Healthy States, Progressive India, made public earlier this month tells us much of what we already know: that overall, Kerala has the best set of indicators comparable with the developed world and Uttar Pradesh, the worst. That the BIMARU States are at the bottom of the pile along with Odisha....

-TheWire.in In the gender Budget, the Modi government has not done much more than pay lip service to policies that impact women. Soon after the Union Budget was presented, the PMO tweeted Modi as saying: “Special emphasis has been given on women empowerment in the Budget.” A high-voltage communication campaign followed highlighting key proposals for women, including an increase in commitments for the Ujjwala scheme to provide free gas connections to eight crore...