-The Indian Express The Haryana state government had turned down a suggestion to drop the educational criteria In a first, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a new law in Haryana, mandating minimum educational qualification as a pre-requisite for the candidates contesting panchayat polls. A bench led by Justice J Chelameswar dismissed a batch of petitions that had challenged the validity of the amendment in the pertinent law. The court ruled that the...

-The Hindu Telengana: Empowered by disciplined thrift activity for close to two decades now, a group of enterprising women members of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) are charting a new course by entering male dominated domain of marketing agriculture produce directly to the processors. The effort has paid off with the farmers in at least 10 mandals of Nizamabad and Adilabad district benefiting a lot. Thanks to the encouragement by Gram Abhyudaya...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: Swachh Bharat as a slogan sounds smart, but rampant corruption at the grassroots level is coming in the way of implementing development projects such as constructing toilets in the state. Public sector units executing toilet projects under the Swachh Bharat Swachha Vidayalay Abhiyan are being forced to deal with villagers and Sarpanches who want money before the first brick is laid. Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is one of...

-The Hindu Ignoring the groundswell of public opinion against a resumption of bauxite mining, the Andhra Pradesh government has been taking concrete steps to start mineral exploration in the Eastern Ghats. The Maoists have used this opportunity to try winning support of the tribals. Ever since the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)] made a tactical retreat from the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004, engagements between the naxalites and the State...

-The Times of India MHOW: Faced with problem of lean margins for their produce in local markets, farmers of Harsola and adjoining villages in Mhow tehisl came together and tied up with middleman outside the state to become most prominent suppliers of quality produce to Delhi and Gujarat. In less than three years, nondescript villages have become hub of cauliflower trading and are now famously called gobhi gaon. It is a tale...