-Live Mint   Given the mandate that the BJP has received, it does have the political capital to support a new education agenda   The tactical and strategic brilliance of the campaign that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran is visible in the election results. This also suggests that the BJP government is likely to start off on the task of governance with very clear ideas and in all likelihood with some specific plans....

-The Hindustan Times     On the first day on his job, rural Development minister Gopinath Munde hinted that the Modi government could go for restructuring of the rural job scheme NREGA.   He also defended the land acquisition bill saying it was not against industrialisation and urbanization.   Talking to reporters after taking charge on Tuesday, he said he liked NREGA but it needed changes. "This scheme is best for villages. Basically, people get employment, but proper...

-The Hindu   UDHAGAMANDALAM: The Union government favours a participatory approach to protecting natural resources, especially the precious soil and water, A.K. Sikka, Deputy Director-General (National Resource Management), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said on Monday. He was inaugurating a six-day advanced training programme on planning and design of engineering structures in the watershed management programme organised by the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute (CSWRTI) under the aegis...

-DNA   In the midst of the euphoria in the capital markets, after a strong mandate for Narendra Modi, the loud cries of wailing farm widows have been lost in the noise and cacophony that followed. To my mind, this is the biggest policy paralysis that afflicts the country. So when I heard Modi speak at the Central Hall of Parliament the other day: "Ours will be a government that thinks, works and...

Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN) started in 1995 as an informal network of NGOs to influence the Watershed Development Program of Government being implemented in the drought prone areas for economic improvement of the poor, women and marginalized sections of the rural India. Carving out a creative space for NGOs within the government program, capacity building of various stakeholders, influencing policy and capacitating and empowering the rural community...