-The Hindu Parched throats can bring down governments; hence leaders rush to claim credit for ‘water ATMs’ set up in villages Tumakuru/ Bagepalli (Karnataka): Early in 2016, in the grip of drought for the fourth straight year, people of Pathapalli were in a rage. Surrounded by barren flatlands and rocky hills along the Andhra Pradesh boundary, the village had been facing an acute drinking water shortage. The people went on a protest...

-PTI The Finance Ministers conclave would push for the 2011 population weightage to remain at 10% Amaravati: Finance ministers of six states, including host Andhra Pradesh, will meet on Monday to discuss the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission and its fallout for states. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the day-long conclave at the Secretariat at 10 am, state Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said in a statement on Sunday. Andhra...

-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: In an unprecedented move described by industrialist Ratan Tata as ‘earth-shaking’, and which prompted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take recourse to British author Aldous Huxley, Odisha on Monday provided land rights certificates to 2,000 landless slum dwellers and promised to develop modern urban habitats complete with roads, street lights, parks and playgrounds for them. The initiative is the culmination of the Odisha Land Rights to Slum...

-Press Statement by NREGA Watch Today, International Workers Day or “Mazdoor Diwas” was celebrated across Jharkhand by collectives of individuals and organisations, culminating a week long series of intensive activities. Thousands of workers gathered in over twenty five blocks across Jharkhand including Kisko (Lohardaga), Chattarpur (Palamu), Manika and Mahuadandh (Latehar), Raidih and Basia (Gumla), Topchanchi (Dhanbad) and Janiamore (Bokaro). Aside from workers, pensioners and other rural residents, these events were...

-The Telegraph Economist who served as finance minister dies at 90 Calcutta: Former Bengal finance minister Ashok Mitra, who also served as the chief economic adviser to the Indian government, passed away in a city nursing home on Tuesday morning. The Marxist economist was 90 and had been suffering from age-related complications. His wife Gouri had died 10 years ago. An economist by training - with a PhD under Nobel laureate economist Jan Tinbergen -...