-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government has sought the corporate sector's help to finance its new Aahaar (food) scheme, under which rice and dalma would be served to people at lunchtime for Rs 5. The scheme would be launched on April 1, coinciding with the 79th foundation day of the state, in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. It would cater to 25,000 people every day. In Bhubaneswar, the subsidised food will...

-The Hindu Much of the National Health Policy document reads like a report of health issues and systemic challenges, and is sorely wanting on policy detail Health impoverishment - falling into poverty due to health care costs - affects 63 million individuals in India every year. This is a damning statistic, especially when read with the fact that 18 per cent of all households face catastrophic health expenditures (health expenditure greater than...

-The Indian Express The Bharat Krishak Samaj (BSK) has long urged the merger of the agriculture ministry with the water resources and rural development ministries, in the interests of better coordination. With cooperative federalism gaining currency as an idea, that might just become possible. Now, the panchayati raj and food processing ministries could join the club, leaving agriculture, for all practical purposes, to the states, as envisaged by the Constitution. But...

-The Hindu Nine amendments have been adopted. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, popularly known as the land bill, was adopted by the Lok Sabha after debating it for two days. Congress and Biju Janata Dal walked out ahead of the voting, to protest the removal of a clause that makes it mandatory to get farmers' consent prior to the acquisition of land...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma on Tuesday emphasized on the need for mandatory social audit of social sector schemes as they lacked transparency and accountability. Speaking at a conference on social audit here, the CAG said expenditure of central and state governments that directly impacts socio-economic development was estimated to be Rs 17 lakh crore in 2013-2014. "This implies that an average of Rs 2,656...