782474317884. Ranjana Sadashiv Sonawane is unable to read the 12-digit number printed on a piece of paper given to her. But the 41-year-old resident of Tembhli village in Nandurbar district, who created history on Wednesday by becoming the first person to get an unique identity number under the UPA government’s Aadhar project, is not willing to let such minor issues mar the celebrations. “We will get many benefits. This will provide...

Just three days after the Jaypee group resumed work on the Yamuna Expressway in Aligarh’s Tappal area in Uttar Pradesh after the last month’s agitation, the farmers again brought it to a halt on Tuesday evening, demanding compensation for the crops on the land acquired for the project, return of the land to farmers who were against acquisition, and withdrawal of the cases registered against them during the agitation. The immediate...

Tembhali, a remote village with a population of 1,552 in the Satpura range of tribal-dominated Nandurbar district, wears a festive look. It has undergone a total facelift with tarred roads, painted walls, banners and posters — largely of the ruling Congress party — and uninterrupted power supply. The reason for this makeover: the village will host the launch of the Centre’s much-vaunted Unique Identification programme, or Aadhaar, by Prime Minister Manmohan...

The sugarcane growers in Orissa’s Ganjam district have urged the authorities of Aska Cooperative Sugar Industry (ACSI) to fix the cane price at ' 2500 per quintal at the field level during the coming crushing season. The factory authorities had paid '1700 per quintal to the cane growers last year. The sugarcane farmers want increase in cane prices to be announced before the start of the crushing season which begins from...

Finance minsiter Pranab Mukherjee has favoured a balanced approach on the issue of displacement of tribals due to mining projects, saying that solution does not lie in stopping these projects altogether. “Answer does not lie in the companies stopping mining activities. Answer lies in providing alternatives to those displaced... in what form we can compensate them and make them beneficiary of economic development,” Mr Mukherjee said at a coal summit on...