While the Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka is embroiled in a land scam, farmers are up in arms against the acquisition of their lands for industrial use in Mysore district. They have alleged that the government was acquiring 25,000 acres of land. Dismissing their allegation, authorities have come out with a statement saying that they were acquiring 8,520 acres in the district as a mutual consent of farmers. The clarification has come...

A newly e-literate village paanwala's obsession with Google has blown the lid off a unique NREGS scam in Porbandar. The motley bunch of beneficiaries include affluent NRIs, doctors, government officials, teachers and well-off farmers — all shown as unemployed village labourers holding NREGS job cards. So far, the money siphoned off comes to nearly Rs 1 crore. On paper, there are 963 NREGS job cardholders at Kotda village in Kutiyana taluka...

The government today ordered an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in wage payments under NREGA in Kotda village in Gujarat's Kotiyana district. Rural Development Minister C P Joshi asked the National Level Monitor (NLM) to examine the alleged misappropriation of funds related to NREGA wage payments in Kotda village and submit a report by November 30. The direction came following media reports about an e-literate panwala in the village stumbling upon a...

India's Supreme Court has directed PM Manmohan Singh to explain his "alleged inaction" in failing to sanction the prosecution of a former minister. Telecommunications Minister A Raja has resigned over allegations he undersold mobile phone licences worth billions of dollars. He denies the claims. Opposition MP Subramanian Swamy says he wrote letters to Mr Singh in 2008 calling for Mr Raja's prosecution. He says Mr Singh took more than a year to reply,...

Admitting to irregularities in the export of non-basmati rice to some African countries during UPA-I tenure, the government on Friday said it has referred the matter to the CVC after slapping show-cause notices on officials of PSUs, involved in the transactions. The action follows an internal enquiry by the Department of Commerce which found that "the exporting public sector units did not follow the transparent procedure for selection of domestic associates...