-ABPLive.in New Delhi: A host of activists and academics have appealed to Narendra Modi to nip any move to dilute the 100-day village job scheme after rural development minister Nitin Gadkari brushed aside objections from within his own ministry. In a letter signed by over a hundred citizens, the signatories that included Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Jean Dreze, Harsh Mander, Prabhat Patnaik and Abhijit Sen sought the Prime Minister's "immediate assurance" that...

-MillenniumPost.in Social activist Aruna Roy has alleged that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is cutting funds for flagship rural scheme MGNREGA on the sly. The people-friendly rural employment scheme was conceptualised by the National Advisory Council, a quasi-government body under the UPA government, where Roy as a member had played a steering role. The former NAC member levelled strong allegations against rural development minister Nitin Gadkari for diluting MGNREGA by changing the...

-Down to Earth Sivasankaran's land grabbing spree has threatened millions of livelihoods, says report Indian origin businessman Chinnakannan Sivasankaran has engaged in aggressive land grabbing of more than half a million hectares across Africa, Asia and South America, putting millions of livelihoods at risk. This was revealed in a detailed report released by Barcelona-based non-profit GRAIN on Tuesday. The report says Sivasankaran diverted 0.56 million hectares of food-producing land to production of palm...

-The Business Standard A five-state study on the effects of digitisation shows the poor in the country love knowledge-based programmes India's poor love digitisation for the choice and quality it offers. Discovery and National Geographic are the most popular channels in some of the poorest parts of the country, largely because the knowledge-based programmes on these channels are considered a substitute for decent education. And, the poor love shows on agriculture,...

-Outlook New Delhi: 700 slum clusters will be provided toilet facilities by Delhi government as part of the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision was taken in view of shortage of toilet blocks in jhuggi jhopri (JJ) colonies, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board's (DUSIB) Chief Executive Officer, Amar Nath, said today. DUSIB has already prepared a data base of toilet blocks available in JJ clusters as well as...