-The Hindu   The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered five Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) relating to alleged irregularities in the funds allotted to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Uttar Pradesh since its inception in 2005-06, CBI spokesperson said here on Saturday. The PEs were registered on the directions of the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow Bench. They pertain to civil works of Director-General (Family Welfare), procurement of medicines and equipments and information,...

-The Telegraph   The CBI today began probing an Uttar Pradesh health scam running into thousands of crores that has led to the murders of two honest government doctors and the sacking of two ministers. The issue relates to the spending of Rs 10,000 crore allocated to the state under the National Rural Health Mission. CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said the agency had registered five preliminary inquiries on the orders of Allahabad High Court,...

After being mired in controversies across the nation over multi-crore scams, the MGNREGA scheme hasn’t quite made headway in Bulandshahr district’s Anupshahr yet, say Bhamati Sivapalan and Yamini Deenadayalan “MGNREGA is a flop in Uttar Pradesh,” extended NGO worker Manish Sharma, as small talk, at the block development office of Anupshahr in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Despite having been in force since 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment...

-The Economic Times   The Reserve Bank today expressed concern over asset quality of banks and lower credit flow to rural areas, despite the fact that performance of Indian banks improved during the 2010-11 period.  In its report titled 'Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2010-2011', RBI said that the Indian banking sector demonstrated continued revival from the peripheral spill over effects of the recent global financial turmoil in 2010-11, but despite...

The UPA government has decided to allow cash payment of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in a desperate bid to increase demand for jobs that had gone down due to delayed payment of remuneration. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Monday made the announcement stating that the facility would be allowed in all the 60 left wing extremist (LWE) affected districts where...