-The Hindu     Representatives of more than 100 farmers' organisations release a charter of demands Although the time for freebies is over as Lok Sabha elections have been announced and the Model Code of Conduct is in place, more than 20 lakh farmers across the country have sought assurance from political parties for a minimum income security for agriculture households. The income guarantee must reflect "inter-sectoral parity" which should match the salary of a...

-The Indian Express The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) promises 100 days of work to every rural household annually. The government on Friday increased the number of workdays under its flagship rural jobs guarantee scheme for tribal households to 150, but official data show that no more than 11 per cent of Scheduled Tribe households have been able to complete even the promised 100 days of annual employment...

-Outlook The state elections rolled out smoothly, but it's money power which ruled on the ground As we celebrate the smooth working of a massive electoral exercise-simplistically dubbed by many as the semi-final to the greatest show on earth, General Elections 2014-a realisation has dawned that the role of ‘money power' is reaching alarming proportions. Sure, elections are more fool-proof today than in the past, and most (rightly) salute the EC...

-Outlook Delhi Assembly elections this time saw not just the highest voter turnout but also the highest number of violations of the Model Code of Conduct. A total of 42,000 litres of liquor worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized while Rs 1.64 crore, which was allegedly meant for distribution among voters in order to lure them, was recovered from various constituencies. Delhi Election Commission also detected 21 cases of paid news...

-Outlook New Delhi: Delhi's Election Commission has detected instances of "paid news" relating to five candidates in the run-up to assembly election and added expenditure in this regard in their poll expenses. However, the Commission is yet to decide on the appeals of two Congress leaders including Revenue Minister Arvinder Singh and Sushil Gupta who have moved against the order of inclusion of amount spent on "paid news" in their poll expenses...