The metropolis could have had five new police stations had the government accepted the recommendation of a committee on VIP security cover. A high-ranking IPS officer told TOI on Friday that the committee had recommended the reduction or withdrawal of the security cover of leading politicians. "But shockingly , chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and home minister R R Patil have rejected the recommendation for obvious political reasons," he said. Ironically, the...

Here’s a “growth story” that Standard and Poor’s missed: a piece of official statistics shows good old India has grown — literally. Over 5,000sqkm of wasteland has been converted into “net” usable terrain between 2005 and 2008, according to the Wasteland Atlas of India that was released today. Even Bengal, pilloried for profligacy and other wasteful pastimes, has done its modest bit to transform wasteland. But the big battles against barren land...

-Greater Kashmir Jammu, Apr 25: The wage rate under MGNREGA would be increased from present Rs 131/day to Rs 150 to speed up its implementation at the ground level. The information, according to an official statement, was given in the 4th State Employment Grantee Council meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law Justice and Parliament Affairs, Ali Muhammad Sagar. Sagar while impressing upon the officers...

-The Telegraph Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today criticised the media for reporting that he had offered to quit the government and work for the party, calling it “juvenile” and refusing to answer any political questions. “No political questions... the most juvenile media I have ever come across,” Ramesh told reporters at the beginning of a news conference convened to release the Wasteland Atlas of India. Sections of the media were abuzz yesterday...

A Comptroller and Auditor-General of India report has expressed dismay over the rising share of funds disbursed by various ministries to local bodies and NGOs in 2010-11. The CAG report on the accounts of the Union government was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. "An analysis of plan expenditure revealed that 77% of the total plan expenditure was in the form of grants-in-aid payment,'' the report stated. "In five of the ten...