-The Hindu Delayed payments to poor households threaten to scuttle scheme to build toilets under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Churu (Rajasthan): Three years ago, Churu, a town of 1.2-lakh people in the Thar desert, was ranked India's dirtiest town by the Planning Commission. Two years ago, the overall district had over 40 per cent households with no toilet of their own. Today, the district is close to its goal of becoming open defecation-free,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Agricultural GDP is likely to grow by over 5% this year thanks to the most abundant rains in nearly two decades, a government thinktank has forecast. If the prediction turns out right, it could help tame food inflation, provide a much-needed boost to rural incomes and a knock-on effect on other sectors of the economy. The demand for two-wheelers, tractors and mobiles, in particular, could rise...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: On the eighth anniversary of India's landmark transparency legislation today, data mined on the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows it is, indeed, India's sunshine law, with an estimated 40 lakh people using the Act during 2011-12, the latest year for which all-India data is available. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an independent organisation closely associated with the RTI legislation, data-mined annual reports filed by the...

-PTI The job scheme has established the country as a model of inclusive development worldwide The government's ambitious rural job scheme MNREGA has not only unleashed a revolution in rural India but has also established the country as a model of inclusive development worldwide, says a new World Bank report. Hailing MNREGA, 'The World Development Report 2014 (WDR 2014), Risk and Opportunity -Managing Risk for Development' says the scheme illustrates how good governance and social mobilisation...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: With paddy arrivals yet to pick up across Punjab, the state government now plans to make direct payments to farmers. The move is aimed to protect farmer's interest particularly the small and marginal from being exploited by the commission agents/arthiyas. The issue of direct procurement and payment to farmers had been delayed for several years with both the Congress ruled and Akali-BJP government not keen to upset...