-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...

-Livemint.com Last year’s abundant rains in drought-prone Marathwada region, of which Latur is a part, have helped farmers produce record amount of pulses Mumbai: Latur is back on its feet and its pulse mills are running again, a year after an acute drought. The dry bed of the Manjra river, the water train from Sangli and the once ubiquitous water tankers have become things of the past. Last year’s abundant rains in Marathwada—a...

-Hindustan Times The Karnataka govt declared that only farmers who have a fodder ration booklet will be given subsidised fodder, a lifeline for the dairy farmers battling a crippling shortage in cattle food. Kolar: In the hinterlands of Karnataka that is battling a third successive drought year and increasingly parched lands, farmers have a new worry: Aadhaar. The state government has declared that only farmers who have a fodder ration booklet will be...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government today denied any move to introduce reservations in the private sector, saying there was "no such proposal", a year after the National Commission for Backward Classes had suggested enacting a law to make private firms set aside jobs for marginalised sections. "There is no such proposal (for reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) in the private sector," social justice and empowerment minister...

-TheWire.in Private schools are flouting guidelines and charging students from economically weak families for books, uniforms and mid-day meals. New Delhi: A March 21 circular by the Delhi Directorate of Education (DelE) strictly instructed private unaided recognised schools in the city to provide free books and uniforms to EWS/DG (economically weaker section/disadvantaged group) category students who were selected through a computerised draw for the session 2017-18. However, certain private schools have violated...