The finance ministry has put its seal of approval on a proposal to directly transfer subsidies to the bank account of a beneficiary that is linked to her Aadhaar, or unique identification (UID) number. The government has previously articulated its desire to experiment with direct transfers to make its management of subsidies more efficient and ensure benefits actually reach the targeted people. In a notification issued on Tuesday, the finance ministry extended...

-PTI   The Bihar government has decided to rope in professionals from the private sector to monitor the rural development schemes in state, Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra said. "We have decided to hire the best brains from across the country to monitor ongoing rural development schemes inBihar, he said. The state government has already published ads in national dailies for inviting applications for the post of 32 executives and the recruitment of the...

Have the National Law Schools, the counterparts of IITs and IIMs in the legal field, faltered in inculcating social responsibility in the bright young lawyers passing out from the prestigious institutions? Justice M K Sharma, a Supreme Court judge, feels so and has expressed strongly against the trend of "bright young law students" flocking to become corporate lawyers rather than opting for training in litigation. "Unfortunately, the statistics available indicate that 85%...

For promising results, renewed commitment of another seven years essential An official review of the Union Government's ambitious National Rural Health Mission has described it as a “minor success”, adding that the results have been heartening compared to past experience in public health programmes. If this promising programme is not to splutter to a stop, a renewed commitment for at least another period of seven years is essential, it says. A report...

-The United Nations   Global malaria deaths have dropped by about 38 per cent over the past decade, saving the lives of more than one million people, mostly children, through the efforts of a United Nations-led global partnership that put emphasis on prevention and treatment, particularly the use of insecticide-treated nets, according to a report unveiled today. Some 43 countries, 11 of them in Africa, have seen malaria cases or deaths drop by...