-The Hindustan Times Patna: Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has called for "serious government response" and "monitoring at the highest level" in the cases of violent attacks on whistleblowers in Bihar. He said his ministry was working on a ‘protocol' for whistleblowers, and that would soon be applicable to the entire country. In a letter to chief minister Nitish Kumar, Ramesh said whistleblowers and their families were facing constant torture and...

-The Hindu I am sure all efforts are being made, but no arrests have yet been made, said Jairam Patna: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Bihar Chief Minister raising concerns over the recent murders of RTI activists in Bihar. Mr. Ramesh said in the letter that his ministry was working on a protocol - that would be applicable for the entire country - for such cases. In two recent incidents,...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The services sector contributed a whopping Rs 2.98 lakh crore to Delhi's gross domestic product (GDP) of Rs 3.65 lakh crore in 2012-13, keeping its position as the main driver of the city's economy. The services sector, which includes real estate, hotels, restaurants, banking, insurance, wholesale and retail trade, accounted for 81.54 per cent of Delhi's total GDP in 2012-13 compared to an 81.62 per cent contribution in 2011-12,...

-The Business Standard The scheme can be named as 'Social Security Scheme' or 'We The People Scheme'; would not offer high returns like chit funds Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today proposed to launch a government-sponsored deposit-taking scheme to provide a secured saving option to the rural people of the state as an alternative. "To provide proper facility in the wake of growing financial insecurity, we are thinking of a social...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of tobacco products such as gutka and pan masala in the state. The decision came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's remarks in a case recently, seeking to know the action taken by state governments in curbing the use of tobacco and its products. The order will be passed in a...