-The Hindu Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The government is considering a proposal to exempt stamp duty on agricultural loans issued by commercial banks. Finance Minister K.M. Mani told a meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) here on Monday that a decision on the issue would be taken soon after assessing the financial implications. Pointing to the substantial share of commercial banks in primary sector credit, the last meeting of the SLBC had...

-BBC A survey done earlier this year shows that public facilities in the poorest regions of India have steadily expanded, improving the lives of people there, writes development economist Jean Dreze. Once upon a time, not so long ago, public facilities in the poorest districts of India were few and far between. Most people were left to their own devices and they lived in the shadow of hunger, insecurity and exploitation, with no...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: As a team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) visited the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts on Friday, the UP government went into an overdrive to enumerate the relief measures taken for the victims living in camps. UP chief secretary Jawed Usmani said after improvement in the law and order situation, only five relief camps were functioning with 4,783 people living in them. Of these, one camp...

-Newsclick.in How malnutrition and death have gripped the tribals of Attappadi in Kerala after land alienation in 1996. Neha Dixit reports. Last month, E. K. Bhushan, Kerala Chief Secretary informed the tribal people of Attappadi Hills that they are now entitled to restore 530 hectares of land in the area. This is out of the roughly 4370 hectares of land that was alienated from the tribals after the Tribal Land Amendment Act...

-The Hindu There is no disparagement of subsidies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh because those who attack the social welfare policies of the Congress regard them as examples of good governance by a party of the Right Three propositions dominate explanations of the Congress party's rout, the Bharatiya Janata Party's impressive victory and the Aam Aadmi Party's stunning success in Delhi in the recent Assembly elections. One, that there is a strong...