-IANS   PATNA: The central government is planning to turn India's eastern states into an organic farming-hub, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said here on MoNDAy. "Our priority is to develop Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and eastern Uttar Pradesh into an organic farming hub for development of the region and to provide opportunity to millions of farmers to earn more," Singh told media persons. Singh, who hails from Bihar, said organic farming...

-The Indian Express   As per UIDAI records, 630 million Indians have already been issued Aadhaar cards. The Department of Information Technology has called a meeting of state government secretaries this week for a status check on Aadhaar. The meeting is significant because of the question marks on the continuation of the scheme under the NDA government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week scrapped the cabinet committee on Unique Identification Authority of India which...

-The Hindustan Times   The national rural employment guarantee in a new format will have more funds for asset creation, penalty for late disbursal of funds by the Centre and removing the five-km restriction for seeking work. Working on inputs from state governments, the Centre would be revamping the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) with an aim to create productive assets. Government officials said that some of the likely changes...

-The Business StaNDArd   Say waiver will vitiate the loan recovery environment Bankers have requested the Union finance ministry to convince the Andhra Pradesh government to drop its proposed farm loan waiver scheme, at a time when a rise in loans turning bad is eroding the profitability of lenders, especially state-run ones. Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is to take the oath of office as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on MoNDAy,...

-The Hindustan Times     For India, the monsoon is more than just a cool respite: It's the economy's life-blood. It's a long expedition nature undertakes each year. Drafts of early-summer breeze in from the southern Pacific stream northwards, preparing to travel more than 8,000 km to reach Asia in time and picking up moisture on the way. If the Pacific winds are one essential ingredient of a perfect monsoon, the Indian...