-Outlook Why free mobiles to BPL folks is a bad idea “Here you don’t have money to provide them food, and you are thinking of giving them phones,” scoffs a minister in the UPA government, obviously off the record. His comment mirrors the general negative reaction to the ‘Har Haath Mein Phone’ scheme mooted by the Planning Commission, which aims to provide a free mobile phone to each below the poverty line...
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Rayagada tribals up in arms against mining by alumina company
-The Times of India CHANDRAGIRI (RAYAGADA): Tribals from Rayagada's Kashipur block have vowed to stopUtkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) from mining at Baphlimali hills alleging that the company has backtracked on its promises. "The company promised to bring about all round development of the affected villages and started construction work six years ago. We believed it and stopped our agitation against the company. But there has been no noticeable change in the...
More »Imagining a new national politics-Yogendra Yadav
-The Hindu There is at last some clarity on the politics of the anti-corruption movements. Baba Ramdev’s dramatic call for Congress- hatao and the ‘political turn’ of the Anna movement have confirmed that a movement aimed at rooting out corruption cannot defer a direct encounter with party politics for very long. The manner in which both decisions were announced left something to be desired. The announcement by ‘Team Anna’ invited serious...
More »34% increase in deposits at rural banks-Jaideep Deogharia
-The Times of India RANCHI: If deposits in banks are indicative of prosperity of a region, Jharkhand villages have been blazing quite a trail over the past couple of years. The volume of money deposited with rural bank branches witnessed a whopping 34% increase over the last fiscal as against increase of mere 19% in the urban bank branches. With emphasis on financial inclusion, linking MGNREGA wages with bank accounts and...
More »Posco land acquisition to resume in 15 days-Sadananda Mohapatra
-The Business Standard The Odisha government has decided to resume the land acquisition process for South African steelmaker Posco’s project, which was stalled indefinitely in June last year following protests by villagers and Left leaders. The decision was taken in a meeting convened by Chief Secretary B K Patnaik on 16 August, where officials of the Central Revenue Division Commissioner, Posco-India, Jagatsinghpur district administration and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (Idco)...
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