MPLADS funds will only be used for the material component of the projects Federal lawmakers can now use their discretionary funds to finance work taken up under the government’s flagship jobs scheme, a move aimed at creating more lasting community assets in the villages. The government has decided to converge the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But MPLADS funds...

India will soon ban blood tests to detect tuberculosis (TB) that are widely available across the country.  An expert group set up by the Drug Controller General of India has found that blood tests are mostly inaccurate for TB detection. It has recommended to the Union health ministry to immediately ban them.  A ministry official said "The DCGI had set up an eight-member committee to look at whether a proposal by the...

-The Indian Express   More than a quarter of children between the age group of 10 and 12 years cannot add two small sums of money without using a calculator, a new study has revealed. The Research indicated that youngsters are leaving primary school unable to spell, add or do times tables and their parents do not have the time to help them. Around a third cannot do division or basic algebra while half...

A government panel has floated the idea of making voting compulsory in civic and panchayat elections, with a fine of Rs 25 for anyone who chooses not to vote despite the absence of disabling circumstances. The panchayati raj ministry task force has argued that higher polling is likely to reduce the influence of money power on election results. A low turnout suggests that only committed voters and those who have accepted money...

-The Telegraph The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti has rejected an IIT expert’s proposal to use a certain piano key weir technology for the Lower Subansiri power project, basing it rebuttal on its own Research on the technology. Nayan Sarma, head of department of water resources in IIT Roorkee, had proposed use of the technology during a meeting with the state government, members of the expert groups and representatives of the civil society...