-The Hindu     Gaps between Muslims and the national average on most human development outcomes are narrowing, reflecting their improving condition The Prime Minister's high-level Sachar Committee, which analysed the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India - based on data for the 1990s, concluded that Muslims were doing much worse than the rest of the population on most social indicators. Here, we examine how the socio-economic indicators of Muslims...

-The Hindustan Times UPA's two programmes named after India's biggest political icons --- Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru --- have failed to deliver desired outcomes, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has said. The IEO, a body under the Planning Commission, is taking up a detailed study on the UPA's key schemes --- Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MG-NREGA) aimed at creating infrastructure...

-The Hindu The entire spectrum of political leadership should take a pledge to transform the healthcare system of India in a decade As the countdown to the next general election begins, political parties are making multiple promises to pull in votes. All the party leaders are committing to transforming the lives of people. But health, ironically, does not feature high on their priority list, even though it is the central pillar of...

-Down to Earth Delisting fruits and vegetables from APMC Act in Congress-ruled states will not benefit farmers Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last December said fruits and vegetables will become affordable if states allowed farmers to directly sell their produce to consumers. He also directed the chief ministers in Congress-ruled states to delist fruits and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. The Act makes it mandatory for farmers to sell...

-Press Information Bureau (Election Commission) General Elections are held to elect representatives for Lok Sabha after normally, every five years. Every election requires a huge amount of resources and efforts, be it planning, labour, technology, and for that matter, money. From the first Lok Sabha Elections in 1951-52 till the fifteenth in 2009, it has been a long journey for democracy. Government's expenditure on an elector has gone up manifold, twenty...