-The Hindu Business Line   The CAG report details how these have neither helped industrial development nor boosted the economy Nearly a decade after the Special Economic Zones Act was brought into force, it is evident that the move has not helped industrial development. After examining SEZs in terms of background and objectives, fiscal incentives and facilities, approval process and administration, as well as life cycle, State-wise distribution and overall performance, parts of a...

-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: Navi Mumbai-based 65-year-old homemaker Swati Bhatt has been unhappy with the way she has been cooking puran poli (sweet flat bread) over the last one year. The reason: Kolhapuri jaggery, an essential ingredient in the dish, is in short-supply in the market. Jaggery from other States, or for that matter palm jaggery, does not lend the original taste to the Maharashtrian delicacy. This variety of jaggery is made...

-The Hindu Business Line Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have reneged on loan waiver promises. When Messrs Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao, chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively, promised to waive farm loans, there was no reason to distrust them. The Election Commission clearly directed the politicians not to make any promises that could not be implemented. They thought all the farm loans would be written off once they formed...

-The Hindustan Times Jaipur (Rajasthan): The state government has decided to follow the Madhya Pradesh model of sustainable livelihood by convergence in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). This was decided at a review meeting of panchayati raj (PR) and rural development (RD) departments by the chief minister. "We saw their presentation in the meeting of Union minister Birendra Singh on December 16 in Jaipur in which RD heads...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Rural Development Year end Review -2014-15 The Ministry of Rural Development is likely to introduce Mobile Monitoring System for effective implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA. The Monitoring System will be introduced on a pilot basis to allow real time monitoring of all works, workers attendance and work site measurement. The move is likely to plug leakages in the rural job scheme. Moreover,...