-The Hindu Madurai: Tempers ran high at the Collectorate on Tuesday when a majority of the farmers, who participated at a public hearing, opposed acquisition of land for the proposed SIPCOT industrial estate at Sivarakottai near Tirumangalam in the district. Farmers from Sami Mallampatti, Sivarakottai and Karisalkalanpatti participated in the public hearing organised by the district administration. Collector Anshul Mishra said industries had to be established to provide jobs to the unemployed youth...

-Live Mint Dominant caste groups in the state have found their own ways to capture and preserve power Dravidian political parties, which came into existence with the objective of achieving social equality, have been in power for more than four decades in Tamil Nadu, yet caste-based discrimination against the Dalits has remained a fact of life in the southern state. That's in contrast with neighbouring Kerala, which has emerged as a...

-The Indian Express Why we need to revisit the 74th Amendment The National Panchayati Raj Day to mark the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment was observed on April 24 with due ceremony but little hype. Whatever the reasons for the celebration, even those are not available for the 74th Amendment dealing with municipalities. The Government of India's first line of defence on this issue is that these are state subjects. Nevertheless, the...

-PTI Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has sought to blame the Centre for the chit fund scam, has claimed that the central government reduced the rate of interest in small savings to drive depositors towards ponzi schemes. "It is because the Centre has reduced the interest rates in small savings in the post office, poor people and those who have retired keep their money in these chit funds with...

-The United Nations The Asia-Pacific region, which has overtaken the rest of the world in consumption of raw materials as affluence and manufacturing increase, must boost its resource efficiency or risk losing ground in lifestyle, economic growth and environmental sustainability, according to a UN report released today. From 1970-2008, consumption of construction minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times, according to...