-The Hindu Universal electrification will remain a dream unless the government fixes the flaws in its much vaunted scheme to provide power to rural India In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister made the statement that “when the UPA Government came to power in 2004, we had promised that we would provide electricity to all villages.” He then went on to say: “Our next target is to provide electricity to each...

-The Telegraph Bengal should follow in the footsteps of Mendha Lekha if it wants to beat back Maoists. And so should Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. That’s what rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has advised in a letter he wrote last week. Create “more Mendha Lekhas”, he said, referring to the Maharashtra village that gave villagers community rights over minor forest resource and transit permit to sell such produce. For thousands...

-The Telegraph Jhargram: A farmer who had accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of making false promises to Jungle Mahal’s poor at her Wednesday rally was picked up a second time on Friday night and slapped with non-bailable charges. Forty-something Shiladitya Chowdhury, who owns a one-bigha plot, has been charged with assaulting and injuring government officials three days after the police apparently let him go because they could find no evidence that he...

-DNA While all scarcity-affected districts are working toward implementing their contingency plans, the government has indicated that most of the relief work will be carried out under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Also, officials said the number of scarcity-hit talukas is likely to be reduced with the skies finally opening up. Talukas that get more than 150mm average rainfall will be taken off the scarcity-hit list. “Nearly 70% scarcity-related relief...

The Guwahati molestation incident throws light on the violence women face overtly and covertly in India, at home and outside. The shocking incident of the beating and molestation of a young woman by a mob in Guwahati in Assam on July 9 has exposed the ugly underbelly of modern, globalised India, where women face violence, covertly and overtly, at home and outside. The incident has also exposed the lackadaisical manner in...