Nearly 37 lakh women have received cash incentives under the Centre’s maternity benefits programme since the launch of Matru Vandana Saptah last year, a release from the Ministry of Women and Child Development said. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) offers pregnant women and lactating mothers Rs. 5,000 as …
Read More »Monthly Archives: September 2018
PSLV to launch 2 U.K. satellites tonight
A PSLV launch on Sunday night will put two earth observation satellites from the U.K. to space. There is no Indian satellite on this flight. PSLV-C42 will be the first fully commercial trip of the year, breaking a five-month-long lull for the Indian Space Research Organisation. ISRO did not make …
Read More »The cost of populism in Telangana
This week Election Commission officials assessed the poll preparedness of Telangana after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the Assembly and sought a fresh election months ahead of schedule. Riding on populist measures — the government has announced more than 450 schemes in four years — Mr. Rao decided to …
Read More »Durga Puja speaks for homosexuals, transgenders
A Durga Puja in south Kolkata has become significant as it has taken up the marginalisation of homosexuals as its theme, in wake of the Supreme Court’s verdict decriminalising homosexuality. The plight of homosexuals and the transgender community will be highlighted with the use of medical instruments such as saline …
Read More »Prices touch dizzy heights
The prices of petrol and diesel on Saturday touched a new high, with Mumbai recording the highest among the four big metros. Petrol cost Rs. 89.01 a litre in Mumbai and diesel Rs. 78.07, according to the daily price notification issued by state-owned oil marketing companies. In Delhi, the price …
Read More »Submarine plan moves forward after delays
The Navy’s mega-deal for procuring six advanced conventional submarines under Project-75I and processed through the Strategic Partnership (SP) model is moving forward after being held up due to policy clarity. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has initiated the process to finalise specific guidelines for the project, estimated to cost over …
Read More »Call for policy, action in diabetes prevention, management
The recently-released Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 has shown that the prevalence of diabetes has increased more rapidly in the less-developed States of the country. The report has also highlighted the need for policy and health system action commensurate with the disease burden in each State to ensure more …
Read More »‘Reservation should be extended to upper castes too’
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India, an NDA ally, recently announced that he would move the Supreme Court against the Union government’s directive to the media discouraging the use of the word “Dalit” for the Scheduled Castes. He says there is no popular sentiment against the …
Read More »BJP’s outreach to OBCs, Dalits
The BJP’s booth campaign strategy in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election will also involve an outreach to the Other Backward Classes and the Dalits. The strategy, prepared and circulated among members of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, makes this clear. The note lays down an explicit requirement: …
Read More »PM launches cleanliness campaign
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Swachhata Hi Seva” (“cleanliness is service”) campaign on Saturday, and took up a broom to clean a school named after Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar. Union Ministers and BJP leaders and workers participated in similar exercises across the country. In a nearly two-hour video interaction …
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