-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon start a probe into alleged misappropriation of funds under MNREGA in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh. The agency will probe alleged financial irregularities and abuse of power in implementation of the centrally-sponsored rural employment scheme in the state during 2007-10 in seven districts, CBI sources said. The decision comes after the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court directed...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A Global consultancy firm pegged a new level for poverty or empowerment line - at Rs 1,336 per month per person as against the poverty line prescribed by the government at around Rs 870 per month per person. McKinsey, in a report, said the empowerment line determines the level of consumption required for an individual to fulfill his/her basic need for food, energy, housing, drinking water,...

-Outlook Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir government said 329 new habitations have been provided road connectivity in the state under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). "134 schemes, constructing 695 kms road length, covering 329 habitations have been completed under PMGSY till date," Minister for Roads and Buildings and Mechanical Engineering Abdul Majid Wani said while replying to the discussion on the demand of grants for his department in Legislative Assembly last evening. He...

-The Hindu With the era of cheap, bountiful water having been replaced by increasing supply-and-quality constraints, many international investors are beginning to view water as the new oil There is a popular, tongue-in-cheek saying in America - attributed to the writer Mark Twain, who lived through the early phase of the California Water Wars - that "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over." It highlights the consequences, even if...

-The Hindu Proposing a new "empowerment line" that aims to measure the minimum economic cost for a household to fulfil eight most basic needs, a global research organisation has estimated that 680 million Indians, or 56 per cent of the population, lacks the means to meet their essential needs. Health care, drinking water and sanitation between them account for nearly 40 per cent of the gap between their current status and the...