-The Indian Express Kerala Excise Minister K Babu on Friday said the state is confronting a major challenge as liquor-addicts are exploring new ways to set off the reduced availability of liquor. Thiruvananthapuram: After closure of 712 liquor bars below five- star category in Kerala April this year, abuse of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances is going up alarmingly along with the increased sale of illegal liquor and even stimulating ayurvedic tonics,...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Indian weaver is dismissed in high places as an embarrassing anachronism, despite demand for his or her skills and products. In the new millennium, globalisation and a mindless acquiescence to imported notions of a good life threaten to take over, even as the West looks East for better concepts of sustainable living. Analysing today's crisis in the handloom sector, plagued by low-cost imitations from power looms,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Taking note of high number of deaths on Indian roads — over 1.41 lakh in 2014 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to talk about road safety issues in his next Mann ki Baat programme on Sunday. This is for the first time that the country's highest political executive would take up the issue; something that countries like France, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden...

-IPS News NIYAMGIRI: As the rhythmic thumping of dancing feet reaches a crescendo, the women offer a song to their forest god for a bountiful harvest. Then, with earthen pots on their heads and their spiritual creatures – a pigeon and a hen – in tow, they proceed in single file on a long march away from their village of Kadaraguma, located on the Niyamgiri mountain range in the Rayagada District of...

-Business Standard Factories with up to 300 workers can fire without government approval After failing to get the Centre’s approval to the ordinance route, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed a single Bill to amend eight major labour laws; seven other laws would be changed through compounding provisions, etc. With this, Madhya Pradesh became the third state in a year, after Rajasthan and Gujarat, to pass its own labour law amendments...