-The Indian Express The Petroleum Ministry has asked the Prime Minister’s Office to defer the rollout of the direct cash subsidy transfer scheme by at least three months. The ministry told the PMO on Monday that its oil marketing companies are not ready to implement the scheme even in the 51 districts identified in the first phase. Pointing out that bank accounts need to be opened on behalf of the beneficiaries, the...

-DNA Bhopal: The state government on Tuesday said the 'cash transfer scheme' announced by the Central government recently was already in place here.   "The process of transferring amounts of subsidy directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries is already in place in Madhya Pradesh with a view to preventing leakage in govt subsidy schemes and ensuring transparency in selection of beneficiaries", read a press statement issued by the government.   According to it, Chief Minister...

-Reuters MUMBAI: Wal-Mart Stores Inc prepared its entry into India's supermarket sector in 2010 with a $100 million investment into a consultancy with no employees, no profits and a scant $14,000 in revenue. The company, called Cedar Support Services, might have been a more obvious selection four months earlier: it began its corporate life as Bharti Retail Holdings Ltd, according to documents filed with India's Registrar of Companies. The Cedar investment is now...

-The Indian Express The UPA’s cash transfer scheme — delivering over Rs.3.2 lakh crore in subsidies and welfare programmes to the poor, directly to their bank accounts — has raised fears in many quarters about the capacity of a rickety state apparatus to cope with messy implementation issues. Our collective self-confidence about being able to implement any new policy is so low today, we seem to be paralysed by the mere...

-NDTV The Election Commission will decide today whether the government violated the rules by announcing a major overhaul of India's welfare system while Gujarat is in the midst of elections. The opposition BJP has complained that the announcement of the direct cash transfer scheme violates the model code of conduct, which kicks in as soon as elections are announced and forbids parties and candidates from sharing decisions or policies that could influence...