-The Hindu Expected to encourage best performers and inspire others Close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the ambitious ‘Clean India' mission, the Union Tourism Ministry on Friday said it was working on a "cleanliness index'' for cities in the country to encourage the best performers and, in turn, inspire others to spruce up. "We are preparing a cleanliness index. The methodology has been drafted and index calculated for six...

-The Hindustan Times To check rising public expenditure, the government's two biggest money-spender schemes - subsidised ration for poor and job guarantee in rural areas - will soon be on the Aadhaar-enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform. The disbursal of subsidy for cooking gas cylinders will come back on the DBT platform after the previous UPA government decided to put it on the hold just before general elections. The UPA, which started transfer...

It is said that the Central Water Commission (CWC) has failed miserably in September 2014 to furnish information on river flow and raise alarm to people of Jammu and Kashmir living in the downstream areas in the midst of heavy rainfall. The CWC is responsible for making forecasts of floods in all flood-prone areas and provides advisory to the states for tackling floods. The NGO South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers...

-The Business Standard PlanCom meets this month to hasten implementation; initial focus on target coverage might cover 300 districts After reposing faith in the Aadhaar project at its cabinet meeting last week, the Narendra Modi government wants Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) to 80% of beneficiaries in five key schemes "as soon as possible". These include the cooking gas subsidy, where DBT was stalled under the previous government. The other schemes are on transfer...

-Capital Market 14 Crore Soil Health Cards to be Issued in Three Years; Credit Support of Rs. 8 Lakh Crore to Agriculture During 2014-15 Targeted "Finance to 5 lakh joint farming groups of Bhoomi Heen Kisan through NABARD in the current financial year", said Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Agriculture Minister, while inaugurating the National Rabi Conference. Minister said that, a very large number of landless farmers are unable to provide land title...