-The Hindu In the last few months, the industries have seen 30% to 40% fall in orders Coimbatore: Micro and small-scale enterprises here have appealed to the Central and State Governments not to re-introduce restrictions even as COVID-19 cases rise in the country. Coimbatore District Small Industries Association president M.V. Ramesh Babu said the raw material prices have seen a slight drop and workers are available for the current level of orders. In...

-TheWire.in The recent attack on an RTI activist in Rajasthan's Barmer must be seen within a larger culture of violence in the country, being perpetrated to settle scores while the state says nothing. The Right to Information (RTI) application has long since drawn violence for its use as a tool to disrupt the corrupt status quo in the country and another such incident has recently taken place in Rajasthan. Amra Ram Godara, a...

-NDTV.com Nagaland's rights groups and even the State Government have been demanding the centre to withdraw AFSPA Kohima: The controversial law AFSPA that protects security forces from persecution has been extended for another six months in Nagaland, where the army is conducting a court of inquiry into an ambush that went horribly wrong on December 4. The Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, or AFSPA, gives sweeping powers to the military to operate freely...

-The Hindu Business Line At present, panchayats make no contribution to the design of schemes. Their autonomy is negligible. This needs to change Decentralisation has long been recognised as an efficient instrument for promoting economic democracy, and delivering services to meet the needs of people. There are three different channels for decentralisation — political, administrative and fiscal. Political decentralisation promotes trust and cooperation between government agencies and citizens. Administrative decentralisation enables authority...

-Newsclick.in Waged since December 8, the strike action has resulted in the operations of almost 26,000 Anganwadi centres in 22 districts across the state to come to a grinding halt. New Delhi: Protesting Anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana on Thursday said that the state-wide strike that forced the state Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to announce a slew of financial incentives for the all-women workforce a day earlier, will continue in...