-PTI   Munde said proper implementation of the land acquisition Act and providing every household with sanitation and drinking water will be his priority   New Delhi: Narendra Modi government will restructure United Progressive Alliance's flagship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by linking employment with development in rural areas and "rigorously" implementing the new land acquisition law.   Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde, who took over as the minister...

-Macroscan.com   Contrary to the argument that UPA-2 wasted too much money on "populist" schemes, it actually neglected and spent less on these important welfare initiatives than UPA-1. Please click here to access the entire article. This article was originally published in Business Line on May 26, 2014.  ...

-The Hindu   Government plans to initiate 100 smart cities It's curtains for the UPA government's flagship programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The new Union Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister (HUPA), M. Venkaiah Naidu, who assumed office on Wednesday, said a new mission would be launched soon in place of JNNURM. The new mission would focus on the modern concept for cities based on GIS-based planning...

-The Hindustan Times     On the first day on his job, rural development minister Gopinath Munde hinted that the Modi government could go for restructuring of the rural job scheme NREGA.   He also defended the land acquisition bill saying it was not against industrialisation and urbanization.   Talking to reporters after taking charge on Tuesday, he said he liked NREGA but it needed changes. "This scheme is best for villages. Basically, people get employment, but proper...

-The Hindu   Narendra Modi has to address not just the current stagnation in manufacturing but also look at ways of stimulating investments in the sector Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, it is said, sleeps just six hours a day. Even that could become a luxury as he buckles down to his job and begins the challenging task of turning around the economy. The economic legacy handed down to him by the United Progressive...