-The Telegraph Siliguri, April 7: If the panchayat system is dissolved and not replaced by newly elected bodies on time, at least three central schemes would come to a halt in the state, Jairam Ramesh said today. According to the Union rural development minister the national job scheme for villagers, which entails 100-days work for at least one member of a BPL family, would be hit the most. The other two schemes...

-PTI With a view to strengthen safety of passengers and check crimes against women in trains and stations, Railways will soon launch a 24x7 helpline which will be tracked on real-time basis across the country. The proposed pan India toll-free helpline, first-of-its- kind in Railways, is going to be launched shortly to provide round-the-clock security-related assistance to passengers, a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project said. Passengers can use the helpline...

-Live Mint Farmers resisting India's biggest FDI deal are paying a heavy price for their stand In June 2005, the Orissa government signed the country's biggest foreign direct investment deal yet with the South Korean steel manufacturer Posco for a $12 billion (around `65,856 crore) plant near Paradip in the mineral-rich state. Livelihoods in eight existing agricultural and fishing villages were to give way for the project that was intended to be...

-The Hindu The Justice Verma Committee report acts as a blueprint for the radical transformation of gender relations within the framework of constitutional guarantees and gender equality. However, the adoption of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 by Parliament on March 19, 2013, does not go beyond legal change. Prof. Hasan argues that if political parties are serious about the rights of women, the Women's Representation Bill must be passed...

-PTI NAGPUR: A representative of MGNREGA workers has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, drawing his attention towards the plight of persons employed in Vidarbha under the Centre's flagship rural job programme. In the letter, advocate Vinod Tiwari, a leader of MGNREGA Workers Employment Rights Action Committee, has requested Chavan to look into the plight of workers and issue necessary instructions to officials concerned. The committee has alleged that they...