-Livemint.com The UPA delivered the highest decadal growth (8.13% at factor cost) since India acquired independence and handed over an Indian economy on the upswing in 2014, says former finance minister P. Chidambaram New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday defended the record of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the basis of recently published back series data on gross domestic product (GDP). At a press conference today, former finance minister P. Chidambaram...

-India Today Kottayam/ Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has been facing unusually high rainfall since early August, which has LED to statewide floods killing hundreds and causing severe damage. At least 167 people have lost their lives and over two lakh people are in relief camps. Most of the regions impacted by this monsoon were once classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Committee. The report...

-The Hindu The ongoing south-west monsoon has wreaked havoc in Kerala, with as many as 20 people kilLED in rain-related incidents on Thursday, taking the overall toll to 87. Here’s a look at how relentless rains over the past two months LED to a chain of events which resulted in the floods. Hitting a high This year, the south-west Monsoon brought three spells of rains to Kerala — first during mid-June, second during mid-July...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The BJP-LED Centre, which has been taunted as "anti-Dalit" by the Opposition, is considering a proposal to promulgate an ordinance to nullify a court order that ruLED in favour of department-wise reservations in university recruitments. The human resource development (HRD) ministry will send a proposal to the cabinet to consider promulgating an ordinance for a new law that would provide for the implementation of reservations treating the entire...

-Livemint.com Rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha on how MGNREGS has evolved since 2006 to result in income, acreage, water tables, productivity and fodder availability Agrarian distress and rural distress are terms used interchangeably, but the rural economy today is very different from what it was many years ago, given the diversification of rural incomes and hence incorrect to think one means the other, says Amarjeet Sinha, secretary, ministry of rural development. In...