-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government is examining proposals from the information technology industry to intensify real-time analysis of social media platforms for keeping tabs on developing events, public mood and impending threats. Sources said senior officials of the National Security Council held a meeting with representatives of software giant Infosys late last month after which a committee was constituted to brief the private company for developing a web application portal that...

-The Indian Express   MGNREGA is beset with failures of planning, execution, monitoring and accountability. This election season, we have seen the BJP seeking the people's mandate on the slogan "sab ka saath, sab ka vikas". The Congress harps primarily on a "we gave you" list. The first in this list is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). The 11th Five Year Plan recognised that 30 crore people lived below the...

-Reuters   The panel says hydro-power plants has led to the build up of huge volumes of sediment in rivers that is not managed properly New Delhi: Badly managed hydro-power projects in northern India were partly to blame for devastating floods last year that killed thousands of people and caused extensive damage, an environment ministry panel said in a report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.   The panel findings highlight the problem facing India, one...

-The Hindu Business Line     Questions efficiency of country's food subsidy programmes  Targeting India's Food Security Programme, the US has questioned its efficiency and has said that the country should spell out measures to increase the programme's effectiveness. It has also demanded that India submit all relevant statistics and documents on the programme to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to gain immunity against penalties in case subsidies breach specified limits. "The matter will...

-The Hindu     Move to push this year's expenditure to next fiscal is intended to keep the fiscal deficit within target The Finance Minister of the next government post-elections will have to pay the price for the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) subsidy and social spend. The Finance Ministry plans to book in next financial year, 2014-15, the expenditure that will be incurred on subsidies during the remaining months of the current fiscal (January-March). ...