-Outlook Patna: The Bihar government would bear the interest rate above 7 per cent on loans taken by Self Help Groups (SHGs), Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today. The SHGs paying loan on time would be given incentive by providing loan at a lower interest rate of 4 per cent, Kumar said addressing a review meeting of "Jeevika" (Bihar state rural livelihood mission) here. Banks are at present providing loan to SHGs at...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government would soon invite applications from people wishing to be included as beneficiaries under the Food Security Act to be implemented in the state from July 2014. Application forms will also be available online. A six-member committee headed by the Development commissioner would be constituted to chalk out the modalities for identification of the beneficiaries. Under the provisions of the act, each beneficiary would be entitled...

-The Network of Women in Media (India) Recent Developments at the weekly news magazine Tehelka demonstrate that media houses have a long way to go in ensuring safety for women media professionals. A journalist working with Tehelka revealed that she was sexually assaulted by the editor, Tarun Tejpal, on two occasions on 7 and 8 November 2013. The repeated harassment and assault over two days took place during Tehelka's "Think" festival in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A detailed audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India of some major trusts run by business houses and sports bodies has allegedly revealed misuse of income tax exemptions granted to them. Among them are at least two Tata trusts and a number of state cricket associations. The audit report, one of the first to be signed by the new CAG, S K Sharma,...

-The Business Standard The structural changes in India's rural workforce Seldom in the past has the country's labour market gone through structural changes faster than it has in recent years. Apart from a sharp decline in the proportion of workers employed in agriculture, the perceptible withdrawal of women from the workforce is the most striking feature of India's labour market. Going by the numbers the census and the National Sample Survey Office...