-Outlook The government today approved Planning Commission's proposal to merge the 147 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and BRIng it down to 66 across various sectors for effective implementation and monitoring of the 12th Five Year Plan. "The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to merge CCS", Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters after the meeting. Last month, a Group of Ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, had approved merging of...

-Al Jazeera   Floods triggered by rains in north of country have left 120 dead, besides stranding thousands of Hindu pilgrims. Monsoon flooding in northern India has claimed more than 120 lives, stranding thousands of people due to high water levels and landslides, officials say. Torrential rain and landslides since Sunday have stranded pilgrims at four revered Hindu shrines, washed away BRIdges and roads and caused other damage in Uttrakhand province. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

-The Hindu     It's been a year since the Indian Government announced the long-term visa facility for refugees, but many like Zaw Zaw's family, hailing from Myanmar, are yet to benefit. Three metal trunks and a few peeling leather bags are all it takes to hold together Zaw Zaw's 25 years. A hand-spun, BRIght, red and yellow peacock flag, discoloured sheets of papers and a few mementos from friends are all squeezed in...

-The Hindustan Times The Centre, it seems, might again be required to go in a damage control mode and account for the loss of Rs. 45 crore worth of foodgrain in the past five years. The data was accessed by Hindustan Times through Right to Information. And as per our calculation, the grains, damaged mostly during handling and storage, could have fed at least 250,000 people per year. The government had earlier admitted...

-Reuters India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance programme that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said. The expanded surveillance in the world's most populous democracy, which the government says will help safeguard national security, has alarmed privacy advocates at a time when allegations of massive US digital snooping beyond American...