-Livemint.com Unless economic misery is alleviated soon, the Narendra Modi-led BJP may have to face angry voters in 2019 general elections New Delhi: A year back, there seemed to be no stopping Narendra Modi. After a landslide victory in the Uttar Pradesh elections, the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seemed to have acquired an aura of invincibility. But that aura has diminished somewhat over the past few months as anti-incumbency has grown....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The country received just over a third of its normal rainfall this winter, leaving a 63% deficit in January and February that raises the spectre of water scarcity in the coming summer ahead of the monsoon. Of particular concern will be the large rain and snowfall deficits in the hill states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which feed rivers flowing into the plains of north...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The safety and operational performance of 700 large dams across 18 states will be improved through repair and rehabilitation work over six years (2020-26) at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 7,000 crore. Some of these dams will also be developed as tourist destinations so that it can generate revenue for maintenance and create jobs for local people. The World Bank-funded project was cleared by...

  Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) or cash transfer might appear attractive on papers, but in reality it is opposed by its beneficiaries when implemented. Something similar to this has happened in the Nagri block of Ranchi district, where cash is being transferred to the aadhaar seeded bank accounts of beneficiaries in lieu of providing subsidized foodgrains. Cash transfers in the public distribution system (PDS) have been in operation in the Nagri block...

-The Hindu UDAY scheme: Tamil Nadu ranked lowest on performance power distribution companies Chennai:  UDAY review finds little progress made in smart metering. Tamil Nadu has been ranked lowest in terms of State distribution companies’ quarterly performance as of December 2017, post joining the Centre’s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). The State had joined the scheme over a year ago. The scheme, covering 31 States and Union Territories, emphasises both financial turnaround and...