-IANS At a meet to discuss making parliaments gender-sensitive, organised in the Parliament House, many women parliamentarians were conspicuous by their absence. India is hosting the 7th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament on Gender-Sensitive Parliaments organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The two-day event held in the Parliament House was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday and is attended by women speakers and delegates from many countries. While there were a number of delegates...

Patna, Oct 4 (IANS): Thirty-four officials of the rural jobs scheme in Bihar have been dismissed from service for corruption Thursday, a minister said, adding that first information reports have been lodged against 43 others. Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra Thursday said that the government has sacked 34 officials of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and lodged first information reports against 43 officials for involvement in...

-The United Nations A top United Nations official today strongly encouraged governments to adopt special temporary measures, such as quotas, to boost the number of women in parliament and decision-making positions, pointing to the progress achieved by women in India as a result of affirmative action. “Here in India, quotas have spurred one of the world’s greatest successes in women’s empowerment and grassroots democracy,” Michelle Bachelet said in her keynote address to...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA/ AHMEDABAD: India's protein basket comprising pulses, egg, meat and fish has become costlier by 15-20 % over the last one month. Producers and traders say lower acreage in pulses, less availability of poultry feed like corn and rising input costs for fish breeding have impacted the stocks of protein food. Eggs, the breakfast protein staple , have become expensive by 20% in the past few weeks. Current retail...

-The Business Standard Skimmed milk powder 'buffer' might raise prices  The government’s proposal that a buffer stock of skimmed milk powder (SMP) be created in order to minimise volatility in milk prices is so unsound a proposition that it should be shelved. The proposal, sent to the inter-ministerial group on inflation by the food ministry, involves keeping a reserve stock of SMP with milk-processing units by offering them a handsome subsidy. The...