-IANS The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government will soon move the central government to increase Mahatma Gandhi National rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) wages to Rs.200 from Rs.136. Unhappy with the central government hiking the wage for the 100-day rural job guarantee programme from Rs.130 to Rs.136 in the state, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress is planning to take up the issue with New Delhi. "We will soon demand that the central government...

-The Telegraph   Farmers in Bengal left around 2.8 lakh hectares uncultivated in the just-concluded boro crop season, a silent expression of no-confidence in the state government’s paddy procurement process and a fallout of rising fertiliser prices. The area cultivated in the boro season (January to end-February) can be considered a barometer for man-made farming systems because farmers largely depend on irrigation during this phase. The bigger aman crop (June to August) still...

-PTI English dailies or high circulation Bengali ones will no longer be available in state-sponsored and aided libraries in West Bengal, according to an official circular. The circular specified eight newspapers which it said would significantly contribute to the development and spread of free thinking among the library users. Listing the eight newspapers published in Bengali Hindi and Urdu, the Department of Mass Education, Extension and Library Services, in a circular dated March...

By the sheer loudness of their protests, NGOs, journalists and intellectuals have bamboozled the prime minister into withdrawing the latest Planning Commission report. The report had shown accelerated poverty reduction, a perfectly plausible outcome in view of accelerated growth since 2003-04. But the critics are not happy that India is succeeding in combating destitution. They therefore tirelessly invent myths to muddy the discourse. If we are to avoid costly policy...

-DNA The Karnataka government will introduce an ordinance to make it mandatory for MBBS undergraduates and postgraduates to serve one year in rural areas, immediately after successful completion of the course. In the legislative assembly, chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda accepted the suggestion of Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil (Congress), who highlighted the issue of shortage of doctors in Mudhol community health centre in Sedam taluk and the number of vacant posts. Gowda said the...