-The Indian Express   According to sources, DBT barely figured in the party's manifesto consultation process or during discussions After launching it with much fanfare and touting it as the next electoral game-changer, the Congress seems to have distanced itself from its ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme. There has also been a discernible dip in the UPA government's interest in the scheme, which has manifested itself in no review meetings having taken...

-The Telegraph   Thiruvananthapuram: A central directorate has said government advertisements are "approved" by the UPA chairperson's office besides that of the Prime Minister, prompting the Opposition to cite this as evidence of its claim that Sonia Gandhi was involved in the government's day-to-day running. In reply to an RTI question, the Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity, which functions under the Union information and broadcasting ministry, said: "DAVP is the nodal agency of...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: State-run oil biggies are to tap solar power to light up the lives of one million school-going kids and help them shine in academics. The companies are to provide solar home lighting systems so the children can study after dark without suffering the heat and toxic fumes of kerosene lamps. The project is to be implemented in districts with high consumption of kerosene on "area...

-Peoples' Media Advocacy and Resource Centre     In this paper Mr. P. S. Krishnan, IAS (Retd) makes Indepth analysis of Congress and BJP Manifestos 2014 relating to SCs, STs and BCs, exposing their fundamental inadequacies and lack of seriousness, and violation of UPA Government's past commitments to the three deprived classes. He explodes Congress' tall claim of fulfilling 90% of its past commitments; brings out absence of specific...

-The Economic Times   NEW DELHI: The rural development ministry wants states to raise a cadre of so-called barefoot engineers to boost the effectiveness of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by helping to speed up wage payments that are getting delayed by as much as three months because there aren't enough employees to monitor the work being done under the jobs programme. The ministry wants to rope in those...