-The Hindu Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh made it clear on Friday that two of his ambitious projects - Umeed for empowerment of women and Himayat for capacity building and employment of youth - would be soon extended to all 143 rural development blocks in Jammu and Kashmir. Buoyed by massive response in the four blocks, two each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions, Mr. Ramesh is now planning dovetailing of the...

-The Indian Express Amritsar: Hours before it was due to open in theatres Friday, the Punjab government banned a controversial Punjabi film, Sadda Haq, which focuses on the era of militancy in the state, and attributed the decision to the need to maintain communal harmony. But the move has stoked a fresh controversy with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which is controlled by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and had helped the...

-The Hindu A NABARD survey says middlemen funded by banks have kept growers captive to high-interest loans Jammu: Kashmir's acres of undulating apple orchards may soon be waste lands, a survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) accessed by The Hindu shows. The Rs. 4,000-crore industry has been brought to its knees by a network of middle-order market functionaries comprising pre-harvest contractors (PHCs), commission agents (CAs) and wholesalers...

-The Hindu On Monday, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, completes three years of its existence - the time frame within which authorities were to ensure that its provisions were fully implemented - to make basic education a legal entitlement to all children aged 6-14. However, official statistics and reports from the field paint a far-from satisfactory picture, with citizens moving court against the competent authority...

-DNA You may be cursing when you pay a high price for Kashmiri apples, wondering what share of the moneyorchard owners would receive. But in reality, the apple growers wouldn't be even knowing the price at which the fruit is sold in the mainland, leave alone reaping profits. Then, where does the money go? Into the pockets of commission agents, who, sitting in Delhi or any of the major cities, exploit and...