-The Economic Times   A high court on Thursday directed the protesting employees of Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plants to leave the factory premises but refused to declare the strike illegal. The order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court follows a petition filed by the country's largest carmaker whose Manesar plants have been seized by striking workers after weeks of unrest. The court said no protest activity could take place within 100...

-PTI   Wheat production is expected to cross 86 million tonnes to set a new record in the ongoing 2011-12 crop year, boosted by a good monsoon and a likely rise in support prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.  Wheat production in India, the world's second-largest producer, stood at a record 85.93 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year (July-June). Wheat is only grown in the rabi season (winter).  "Indications are that rabi...

-Day and Night News   In Mohali, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act contract workers staged a protest against the indifferent attitude of the Punjab Government and denial of justice to the employees. Up in arms against the Punjab Government, scores of contract workers of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act on Tuesday assembled in front of the office of the Rural Development and Panchayat Welfare in Mohali and lodged their...

-The Business Standard Yes, it will help combat the acute shortage of farm labour, but it goes against the Act’s core principles. Devinder Sharma  Food and agricultural policy analyst The crisis in agriculture has worsened and it is directly proportionate to the spread of MNREGA Isn’t it strange? The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which was primarily designed as a radical and novel response to combat rural poverty, is actually hitting the very...

Is the Congress afraid of winning in Gujarat?  Nothing else explains why it lets Narendra Modi tom-tom development when it should have been the Congress banging the drums. The economic achievements of governments before Modi's read like an award citation, but too much secularism has since led the Congress astray. Instead of showcasing its past performance to regain Gujarat, it is obsessed with nailing Modi as a communalist-in-chief. Naturally, it is...