-News18.com In an interview with News18’s Rupashree Nanda, Dreze, who was a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council and an architect of the National Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), says that there have been no major initiatives in the social field in the last four years, with the partial exception of Swachh Bharat. Government data reveal that the Indian economy is growing at a robust rate but noted economist Jean Dreze believes...

-PTI The Punjab government had earlier faced the wrath of the tribunal for not taking effective steps to provide financial assistance and infrastructure facility to the farmers to encourage them not to burn agricultural residue. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday directed Delhi and four northern states to formulate a comprehensive policy for providing incentives and infrastructural assistance to farmers to stop them from burning crop residue to prevent air pollution. The...

-The Hindu High Court asks Delhi government New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked the city government and civic bodies to see if it is feasible to create a financial assistance scheme for marginalised sections of society, such as transgenders or orphans, in lines with the existing old age pension scheme. Delhi already has an old age financial assistance scheme and a disability pension scheme named ‘Financial Assistance to Persons with Special...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A whole meal for 10 bucks may sound unrealistic in today's world but subsidised food has been a popular poll promise of almost all political parties. Taking a cue from the popularity of "Amma canteens" in Tamil Nadu, civic bodies in the capital, too, rolled out half a dozen "Atal Aahaar Kendra" centres on Monday, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday, which will dole...

-Down to Earth Multiple gaps in implementation of crop insurance schemes may have compromised their purpose of benefitting farmers The CAG audit report of the Centre’s crop insurance schemes has highlighted gaps in their implementation that compromise its purpose of providing financial assistance to farmers. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) looked into the performance of two schemes—Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) and the National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP)...