-The Hindu   Subject to a list of conditions that activists say are not strong enough After put on hold for a year, Lavasa's controversial township project on the hills near Pune has been given the green signal subject to a list of conditions that activists say are not strong enough. Ironically, it was last week's criminal complaint filed by the Maharashtra government against the Lavasa's promoters for violation of green norms that finally...

-The Hindu   Demanding that the government engage in a dialogue with Irom Sharmila who has been on a hunger strike since 11 years demanding repealing of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), many civil rights groups, activists and student groups on Friday evening held a protest march at the Marine Drive here as a part of the ‘Irom Sharmila Solidarity Campaign'. “She [Irom Sharmila] is the symbol of non-violence. You [the government]...

-The Hindustan Times   Rural development Jayant Patil on Tuesday said that implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) should be in the hands of his department instead of the Congress-controlled Water Conservation and Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) department, in the “best interests of the state.” Patil statement comes in the wake of Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh’s missive to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, stating that the implementation...

The Congress rules state and the centre, but money set aside for Rajasthan’s malnourished tribal children does not reach dysfunctional crèches and other urgent needs Three-year-old Bagmati Sahariya lies listlessly on a string cot inside an unlit mud-and-thatched home in Baran district’s Amrod village, 292km south of Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur. When her father Janki Lal (36), a daily wage labourer, lifts her on his shoulder, her bony hands and legs dangle...

Rs. 72 crore fund meant to stop chronic malnutrition and hunger deaths among the state’s 90,000 Sahariya tribals unspent or used for welfare of officials Baran, Rajasthan: The consequences of careless, uncaring governance in Jaipur and Delhi-both ruled by the Congress-are proving deadly to India’s poorest tribals and providing a warning to the dangers inherent in India’s upcoming multi-billion dollar social-security scheme. At a time when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)...