-The Times of India   The per capita income of Indians for the first time crossed the Rs 50,000-mark in 2010-11, although using current prices as the barometer. According to the revised GDP data for the last financial year, per capita income is estimated to have risen 16.9% to Rs 53,331 compared to Rs 46,117 in the previous year. The $1,000-average income of Indians is seen to be illusionary in economic circles as...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today said a public servant facing corruption charges need not be heard before the competent authority decides on sanctioning prosecution. “…the person for whose prosecution the sanction is sought is not required to be heard before a decision in the matter. What is required to be seen is whether the facts placed before it, which, in a given case, may include the material collected by the complainant...

Rights organisations today launched a campaign to collect a million signatures against draconian sedition laws, the kickoff coming on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was among those jailed under such acts. The focus of the drive 65 years after Independence is on repealing Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code — which outlaws disaffection against the state and makes it punishable with life imprisonment. Retired judge Rajinder Sachar, among those...

The peasants’ organisations of the four Left parties in West Bengal have called the Mamata Banerjee government “insensitive” to the plight of farmers and have decided to mobilise them to launch a campaign. The state government is already under fire from the farmers’ community for failing to procure paddy at the minimum support price (MSP) and provide jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The CPM’s peasants’...

At a time when paper and plastic money is the pivot of pecuniary transactions, a postgraduate in statistics from Ranchi University has turned the age-old barter system into the bedrock of a unique cradle in a hamlet on the outskirts of the capital. Students of Bhavna Vikas Vidyalaya at Konki village in Kanke block, some 20km from Ranchi, are basking in academic glory in lieu of vegetables. Yes, you heard that...