-Business Standard Four of the 6 large states have seen uptick in rural wages, following equally sharp increase in coverage of the rural employment guarantee scheme After months of stagnation, rural wages have started inching up, albeit marginally. Coinciding with a renewed push to the rural employment guarantee scheme in the second half of 2015, rural wages have shown a marginal uptick since August. It remained nearly flat from December 2014 to...

-The Times of India BENGALURU: The overall literacy RATe in the country may have gone up to 74.4%, but the drop in the illiteracy RATe has not matched the increase in population. Between 2001 and 2011, the population above the age of 7 grew by 18.65 crore but the decrease in the number of illiteRATes is just 3.11 crore. A 2015 Unesco report said that in terms of absolute numbers, India - with...

-Livemint.com India needs to find better value for money in the health sector According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are three goals a country’s health system must aim for: to improve health, to be responsive to legitimate demands of the population and to ensure no one is at risk of serious financial losses because of ill health. Given this framework, the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) released last week...

-The Hindu Whether the memory of the odd-even experiment will inspire us to lead healthier lives depends on the willingness of the so-called aspiRATional classes to engage in a deeper debate on development It will take time and expertise to assess the odd-even experiment in Delhi, but there is no doubt that it was educative. It taught the government that the public is now ready to support radical measures on air pollution....

-Business Standard To be announced in next few weeks and in coming Budget To widen its rural push and to counter the Opposition's allegation that the BhaRATiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is anti-poor, the Centre is mulling multiple interventions which would include expanding the role of women-driven self help groups (SHGs) and promoting self-employment for rural youth. Some official said the new crop insurance scheme, approved by the Cabinet recently is part of...