-The Economic Times The government wants to train the rural youth to take up manufacturing jobs, but an official survey has shown that nearly a fifth of youth in the countryside enrolled for vocational training opted to learn driving or become car mechanics in the hope of earning a decent salary in cities. Computer training was the second-most desired skill among the rural youth, shows a report based on the National Sample...

-The Indian Express Chandigarh: Slamming the Punjab government for sponsoring "xenophobia", the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday set aside its "discriminatory" rules, wherein it had allowed additional weightage to rural students for government jobs. A Full Bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta, Ajay Tewari and R N Raina held the rules framed by Punjab as "illegal, unconstitutional" and beyond its "legislative competence". "State sponsored xenophobia is constitutional anathema and the principle...

-Live Mint Subsidized loans given to farmers through KCCs could very well be the next big source of NPAs for banks Mumbai: A surge in exposure to farm debt through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) could emerge as a risk for India's state-run banks, according to experts. Subsidized loans are given to farmers through KCCs by state-owned banks. Until March 2012, the outstanding amount on such loans was`1.6 trillion through 20.3 million cards, as...

-The Times of India AURANGABAD: The khadi and paithani department of the Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) trust is planning to spread its wings in rural areas of the state by employing women to operate handlooms in Akola district and its neighbouring four villages. The objective behind this initiative is to promote and popularize khadi among youth. Through this mission, the department has come up with the idea of producing khadi jeans to...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Indian villages are powering their own economy, but contrary to conventional belief , it's not government largesses which are the drivers, but their own self-sustaining models. Growth at the bottom of the pyramid is at unprecedented level, and the transformation is stark. The factors driving this transformation are dramatic improvements in rural roads, electrification, cell phones and water supply which are raising wages and increasing job opportunities...