-Livemint.com Delays in payment and indifferent implementation, among other reasons, have blunted the programme’s effectiveness Procedural lapses have marred the implementation of the state-funded job guarantee programme aimed at alleviating rural distress in India, according to a review of the scheme in eight states by the rural development ministry. While delays in disbursal of funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have held up wage payments in Madhya...

-Livemint.com So far, an area of 8.4 million hectares has been sown, nearly 11% lower when compared with the 9.4 million hectares sown by this time last year New Delhi: A slower-than-normal progress of the south-west monsoon has impacted sowing of rain-fed kharif crops, shows data released by the agriculture ministry on Friday. So far, an area of 8.4 million hectares has been sown, nearly 11% lower when compared to 9.4 million...

-The Indian Express Also, the lack of co-ordination between health and Women and Child Development (WCD) departments has also been highlighted in the report. Ahmedabad: WITH OVER 1.45 lakh children under the age of six in Gujarat identified with the Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), the state fails to identify any specific targets in their mission statements to overcome malnutrition, reveals the latest edition of Global Nutrition Report (GNR). Also, the lack...

-PTI After a making a slow progress, the southwest monsoon is expected to gain momentum and advance further into several parts of drought-hit Maharashtra and central India. “The southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, more parts of north interior Karnataka, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Jharkhand and Bihar,” the India Meteorological Department said. Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan, said the last...

-The Hindu A better approach to man-wildlife conflict management requires an integration of scientific evidence, animal behaviour, and landscape and socio-economic context The difference of views on the killing of wild animals between a former and a sitting Environment Minister of the ruling party — one in favour, the other against — has hit the front pages. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change recently permitted three States, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and...