-The Telegraph Labour payments under NREGA will continue to be less than minimum wages for agricultural labourers in four states, including Bengal, despite a recent rate revision in the rural job scheme. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today tabled a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the revised wages that will take effect from next month. Under the new NREGA rates, labourers in all states stand to gain, except those in Kerala, Bengal,...

-The Indian Express Samelia: Narayan Singh listens with rapt attention as social activist Shankar Singh urges villagers in remote Samelia in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district to fight for their rights. Convinced that his voice would count, Narayan signs up to go to Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest with 25,000 villagers, urban poor, rag pickers, daily-wage labourers to press for universalisation and enhancement of old-age pension. The issue concerns countless elderly poor who...

-Outlook The issue of fuel price hike rocked Parliament today with opposition members in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha disrupting proceedings, demanding an immediate roll back. Several parties protested against the price hike with SP, Left, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK storming the Well of the Lok Sabha, while BJP members were on their feet. In the Rajya Sabha, the entire NDA - BJP, JD-U, SAD and Shiv Sena - protested as...

-The Economic Times  The finance ministry has told all state-run banks to disclose their 50 largest bad loans to help them make a recovery plan and establish a system for zero tolerance against wilful defaulters. In a recent meeting with heads of state-run banks, new financial services secretary Rajiv Takru told them to furnish details of their top 50 non-performing assets (NPAs), including loan sanctioning officer, terms of loan, the collateral furnished...

-Live Mint Evasion of duty of over Rs.50 lakh to be made non-bailable offence; arrest provisions under service tax proposed The government may find itself in hot water on budget proposals that make duty evasion beyond a certain threshold a non-bailable offence, allow arrest on suspected withholding of service tax, and provide tax authorities powers to recover dues from a defaulter’s bankers.   Although finance minister P. Chidambaram in his budget presentation on 28...