-The Economic Times Congress is hoping to reap political dividends from its move to provide direct cash transfer to the beneficiaries of welfare schemes just as it believes it did in the previous elections from the rural employment guarantee scheme. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who, along with finance minister P Chidambaram, was deputed by the party to explain the details of the ambitious scheme on Tuesday, termed the initiative "a...

-Rediff.com Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra on Monday ordered an inquiry into the allegations that nearly 73 per cent of the funds allotted for implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in 38 districts of Bihar, between 2006 and 2012, have been embezzled by authorities "The department will inquire into the corruption and will conduct physical verification of all facts related to the scheme," Mishra said. The Bihar government...

-The Financial Express Differences have cropped up between the Planning Commission and food ministry on the issue of creation of two million tonne capacity silos through the public- private partnership (PPP) mode. Sources say while Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency to implement the project, has been insisting on making 'railway siding' mandatory for silos, the Planning Commission believes that the construction of railways siding would increase the cost of...

-The Indian Express After the Centre had announced its intention to allow 51 per cent FDI in multibrand retail, Walmart said it would open stores in India in the next two years. However, without a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between India and the US, Walmart’s investments in India are likely to be governed solely by domestic laws. If India and the US enter into a BIT, Walmart, reportedly being probed for...

-The Economic Times CHENNAI: Scientists of IIT-Kanpur have thrown the kitchen sink at a high-tech solution to a messy problem: How to keep the world's largest railway network clean and prevent corrosion of lines when train toilets unload waste directly on the tracks. Bio-toilets developed by the Indian Railways and Defence Research and Development Organization have earned praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but IIT scientists say they are neither environment-friendly nor...