Lakhs of rotten wheat bags in open godowns of different villages of Fatehgarh Sahib are emanating unbearable stench after recent rains. Villagers of Ranwan, near Khamano, and Kotla Bhaika in Sirhind are suffering due to the lakhs of rotten paddy and wheat bags lying in open godowns for the past many years. Nearly 2.5 lakh bags lying in Kotla Bhaika are creating nuisance for the villagers, who have stopped visiting the...

A conspiracy to siphon off MGNREGS funds to the tune of Rs 70 lakh by data manipulation has come to light in Jamkhandi taluk. The Hirepadasalagi gram panchayat members have alleged that fake bills have been created by entering false data in the Management Information System (MIS) meant exclusively to maintain accounts of the job guarantee scheme. The entire exercise has been carried out clandestinely without the knowledge of gram panchayat. The data...

Government has proposed to launch an urban employment guarantee scheme on the lines of NREGA and give statutory sanctions to minimum wages. The proposal, which focuses on generating employment and enhancing employability among less advantaged, is part of the short-term strategies and targets of the government contained in the first Annual Report to the People on Employment. At present, states are under no obligation to implement revision of minimum wages...

THE Indian Bureau of Mines, in its Indian Minerals Yearbook–2005, notes that Chhattisgarh has 28 different types of minerals, with coal and iron ore being the most abundant. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in its comprehensive book Rich Lands, Poor People: Is ‘Sustainable' Mining Possible?, says that around 16 per cent of India's coal reserves, 10 per cent of its iron-ore reserves, 5 per cent of its limestone...

The draft law on sexual harassment could make the workplace safer for women. Locker room talk, personal remarks and unsolicited advances will all get the official stamp of disapproval if the draft bill on sexual harassment is passed by the Cabinet next month. This comes 13 years after the Supreme Court framed the Vishaka guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace. The draft bill based on these guidelines has been around...