-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The sustained anti-firecracker campaign, clampdown on Chinese crackers and a 10pm deadline do not seem to have made the city breathe any easier this Diwali than during the last one. There was no significant improvement in air quality compared to last year. The range of average PM 2.5 (fine, respirable particles) may have reduced from 201-533 microgram per cubic metre last Diwali to 145-500 microgram per...

The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13, released in October 2014 (please see the link below). Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and...

-Deccan Chronicle KARIMNAGAR: Swasakhti groups, also known as self-help groups, are set to procure paddy produce this kharif season through Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centres. The groups have been playing a crucial role in buying paddy through IKP centers since 2006. Since the introduction of SHGs into the buying process, farmers have been getting hassle-free minimum support price (MSP) to their produce at their doorstep. The district has 55, 330 SHGs,...

-The Indian Express India's 2005 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) creates a justiciable "right to work" by promising up to 100 days of wage employment per year to all rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Employment is provided in public works projects at a stipulated wage. The Central government proposes to allow a greater share of the cost of projects under the scheme to...

-The Week Shambhu Kumar, 8, quite liked his job as a domestic help in a small town in Assam. He had to mind two children nearly his age, keep an eye on the ducks and be available for chores all day. It wasn't too hard, and he was well fed, too, though he missed his grandmother, a tea garden labourer. One day, some women from the state education department came to the...