Two companies based in Mumbai and Delhi have allegedly duped scores of farmers of more than 2,000 bigha of agricultural land spread across several villages near Phalodi town in Jodhpur district. In one case, the entire land of Mandali village measuring 632 bigha, belonging mostly to the Rebari tribe, has been sold. Though the district administration has ordered an inquiry, complicity of officials is not ruled out since the land was...

In order to get a deeper understanding of the problems in the rain-fed areas, the NAC on natural resources management would soon hold consultations with the rural development ministry, states and NGOs Concerned over asset creation under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) will explore ways and means to maximise the rural job plan in developing the rain-fed areas in...

Hazare is now fighting possibly the biggest battle of his life, by launching an indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi to press for an early enactment of a Lokpal Bill, legislation that would create public ombudsmen to investigate corruption charges against public servants Anna Hazare is a veteran of many battles—as a former soldier and then as a social activist who has forced at least half a dozen Maharashtra ministers to...

The 73-year-old social activist Anna Hazare has decided to go on a “fast unto death” from tomorrow at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to fight corruption, fuelling concern in the Manmohan Singh government at a time the cricket team’s World Cup victory has lifted spirits. The government is worried because it feels that dissuading Hazare this time will be difficult as he had put off his fast on March 5 on the...

U.S. support for Muhammad Yunus is so strong that Dhaka may find a negotiated settlement to protect the Nobel Laureate's image and the independence of the Grameen Bank. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus's three-decades-long journey with microfinance was laborious. But he most certainly did not encounter a crisis like the one he is facing now. It was only in December 2010 that the Bangladeshi — who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with...