Directive comes in the wake of turmoil in Greater Noida Supplementing political offensive with a dose of administrative endeavour, in the build-up to the next round of Assembly elections, focussed on Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minster Manmohan Singh has asked Union Minister for Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh to finalise at the earliest the two amended Bills on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement. Confirming Dr. Singh's directive, Mr. Deshmukh told The Hindu...

States are not sure if they will receive funds under the government’s flagship rural employment programme on time this year. Glitches in a governmentdeveloped software last year had delayed the digitised submission of progress reports by states, which is mandatory for sanction of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). The ensuing delay in sanction of funds stalled ongoing work and affected implementation of new ones....

It's been a tale of misses for the state government on all counts as far as curbing corruption in MGNREGA is concerned. For, despite having conducted at least 35 special audit at various work sites in the state, there seems to be little action initiated by it as far as recovery of money, action against the culprits and in some cases even executing its plans are concerned. According to Shankar Singh of...

Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

Endosulfan has started exacting its toll not only in killing the foetus but also in aborting marriage proposals. Parents of brides and grooms insist on blood tests before the marriage to ensure that prospective grooms do not carry endosulfan residues in their blood. A marriage proposal for a girl in Enmakaje grama panchayat from the parents of a groom in Mangalore was aborted as the bride’s party was not prepared to...