-The United Nations Higher education is a prerequisite for millions of youth in the developing world who hope to find a decent, "non-vulnerable" job, a new United Nations study has established. The study, conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and released today, surveys 28 countries worldwide and demonstrates that having a high level of education "serves as a fairly dependable guarantee" towards securing a formal job. "The report confirms the role of...

-Business Standard As on Dec 9, the Aadhaar Payment Bridge saw transactions crossing the 79.4 million mark across govt welfare programmes Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Monday said the number of Aadhaar numbers that have been linked to bank accounts had touched 100 million, enabling these individuals to digitally receive subsidies and benefits under government schemes. It said establishing a link between an Aadhaar number and a bank account makes it...

-The Hindu Madurai: Solar energy is conquering more territories with increasing industrial application. In Theni district, it has become popular among dhal mills. Besides conserving considerable fossil fuel, solar heating used in the processing of dhal also helps to keep the environment around the Western Ghats clean. Solar heat processor developed by Planters' Energy Network (PEN) is now used in big dhal processing units in Theni. The process starts with harvesting of...

-Livemint The development economist on the Modi government's initiatives and his stand on them, and MGNREGS The Narendra Modi-led government should consider replacing inefficient subsidies with a basic monthly income for all citizens, says Pranab Bardhan , emeritus professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Bardhan, who recently sparred with economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya in a debate over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),...

-The Indian Express In a move that could alter the labour-intensive nature of the rural job guarantee scheme, the Finance Ministry has suggested changing the wage-material ratio from the current 60:40 - as provided under the Act - to an equal 50:50. This comes amid widespread criticism from several quarters of previous Rural Development minister Nitin Gadkari's proposal to change the labour-material ratio to 51:49. According to officials in the Rural Development Ministry,...