-The Business Standard Nearly half the 3,337 politicians contesting elections in 5 states have not provided details of their I-T returns With total assets of around Rs 56 crore, Dhanvantri Chandela, fielded by the Congress from the Rajouri Garden constituency, is easily one of the richest among candidates for the Delhi Assembly election. But she neither has a permanent account number (PAN) nor has she reported details of her income-tax returns to...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The United Progressive Alliance government has drawn up a Rs 75,000-crore action plan that seeks to provide self-employment opportunities to seven crore households in rural India over the next 10 years. The programme, which intends to impart training to rural households for semi-skilled and skilled jobs, may help UPA garner some extra votes in the general elections due next year. "The model has already been tested in...

-The Indian Express The Centre has defended before the Supreme Court its decision to wind up the Justice MB Shah Commission, which was set up to inquire into illegal mining activities across several states. The government, in an affidavit, has pointed out that not only was the original tenure of the panel been extended from 18 to 33 months, the government was also taking appropriate follow-up actions on the basis of commission's...

-Outlook New Delhi: Sanitation activists today observed 'World Toilet Day' and alleged that 3.75 crore lavatories in India as claimed by Ministry for Rural Development did not exist and were "missing". Activists of Right to Sanitation (RTS) Campaign's India chapter demanded an inquiry into the "huge gap" in the number of toilets existing on the field and the number provided in the data by the Rural Development Ministry and Census 2011. On the...

-Live Mint NSSO data show that slower pace of jobs creation between 2004-05 and 2011-12 reflects a fall in distressed farm employment Tracing the pace of new jobs created in an economy, a key electoral issue, is a good indicator of inclusive and balanced growth. But in a developing country such as India, the nature of new employment is often as important as the total number of jobs created. The changes...