-The Deccan Chronicle   Tribal organisations and Adivasi leaders, fighting against a proposal to develop Kawal wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve by evicting adivasis dwelling there for a long time, are willing to discuss the issue only if the state government is ready to hold gram sabhas, a prerequisite for setting up any project under the PESA (Panchayat Raj Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. District officials concerned have declared the...

-IANS The government is considering creating a corpus fund of Rs.1,000 crore ($18.7 million) in the current fiscal that would encourage banks to give housing loans in 'significant volumes' to the urban poor, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday. Addressing a conference on the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) here, Manmohan Singh said the corpus of Rs.1,000 would be set aside to create a credit risk guarantee fund that could...

After pushing for financing adaptation at the just-concluded United Nations climate talks at Durban, India is hitting every button for aid in executing its low-carbon growth plans. This despite India (and China) refusing to sign new climate agreements at the U.N. Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) in the South African city.  India, in fact, has a well-drawn out policy and action plan for climate...

U.P.'s GDP grew at 7.28 per cent in the past five years, but the State ranks low in virtually every area of socio-economic development. IF statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) are the only criteria to evaluate the performance of a government, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in Uttar Pradesh will have to be rated as one with highly impressive credentials. For, India's most populous State has recorded a...

-The Times of India   Domestic helps would find it easier to complain against sexual harassment if the recommendations of a parliamentary panel favouring their inclusion in the proposed 'protection of women against sexual harassment in workplace' bill are accepted. Dismissing the government's view that there were "practical difficulties" in implementing the law within the confines of a home, the committee on Thursday said such excuses could not be used as a...