-The Hindu Stand-up India will help create 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday unveiled the ‘Stand-up India’ scheme to promote entrepreneurship among women, scheduled castes and tribes by enabling them secure easier loans and said this could be an engine of job creation for the youth. “Dalits and poor people, if given an opportunity, can bring in various reforms in the country. That’s my vision for Stand-up India…This scheme is...

-Business Standard Only 47 per cent of the people with PMJDY accounts have received their RuPay debit cards, while these have been issued to 85 per cent of the beneficiaries Last-mile connectivity pangs have hobbled the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) in several ways, according to a study by MicroSave for the finance ministry. The scheme has helped improve financial inclusion. But insufficient income for banking correspondents (BCs) and a deficiency in...

-The Telegraph Bangalore: A mobile app that enables donors to save blood for future use by maintaining accounts was launched today by an ad agency that has joined hands with the Indian Red Cross Society's Karnataka branch. Possibly the world's first such project, an app called Blood Banking on iOS and Android platforms was launched with an eye on the younger generation that is more attuned to smart technologies for anything from...

-Frontline The government’s passage of the Aadhaar Bill in complete disregard of even basic parliamentary procedures and in subversion of an ongoing judicial process puts at risk a number of constitutional rights and liberties of citizens. The benefits cited are just ploys to realise a neoliberal dream. “Congressmen are dancing as if [Aadhaar] was a herb for all cures. With the Supreme Court pulling up the Centre, people are now seeking...

-Livemint.com With global population set to hit 11 bn by 2100, gene banks are vital links in a chain of steps needed to avert hunger New Delhi: From the outside, the tapering building in classic brick red and cream standing by a quiet stretch of road in west Delhi has the unmistakable look of a government office block, an impression reinforced by its manicured lawns and the acronym NBPGR embossed at...