-The Indian Express Our reactions to the current protests triggered by the gangrape in the capital reveal a paradoxical state of mind. We welcome the spontaneous nature of these protests, underline the fact that most of the ordinary women and men who joined these protests were not mobilised by any organisation and caution against the entry of “political elements”. At the same time, we criticise the protesters for the lack of...

-Outlook Chandwa (J'hand): All districts in Jharkhand would be covered in the Direct Cash Transfer programme by middle of next year, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today. "Now Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Sareikela-Kharsawan and Ranchi are among the Jharkhand districts in the country where Direct Cash Transfer programme will begin from January 1. We are trying to cover all the districts in the state by May," the Rural Development minister said while taking stock...

-Outlook Hyderabad: Union government is all set to provide loans to women self help groups (SHGs) at the rate of seven per cent from April 1 next year and at four per cent to the target group in 150 selected districts, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh announced here today. "Loans will be extended to Self Help Groups at 7 per cent from April 1 while in another 150 districts, selected...

-The Indian Express Steel minister Beni Prasad Verma has cautioned environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan against holding up clearances for SAIL’s iron ore mines in Orissa and Jharkhand, saying this would force the state-owned steel giant to scale down operations and could stoke naxal activity in the tribal region. Verma’s November 30 missive to Natarajan comes close on the heels of SAIL’s top brass sounding the alarm on the delays in environmental clearance...

-The Hindu Absolutely nothing wrong in funding the channels in a transparent way, says official Raipur: Raman Singh’s BJP government “has paid for favourable news stories” and “regular live coverage” to a host of national and local television channels, an English language newspaper reported. Furthermore, the senior editors of the channels concerned allegedly wrote to the public relations (PR) department of the Chhattisgarh government “negotiating” rates to produce “news stories” and to ensure...