-PTI Hyderabad: Country's only listed micro lender SKS Microfinance today said it plans to resume lending operations in Andhra Pradesh soon, two years after the state government came out with a stringent laws to regulate the industry. SKS Chief Financial Officer, Dill Raj said the recent Supreme Court's interim order was of great relief to them and paves way to resume operations in the state. "That is primary relief we got (from the...

-PTI   Approximately 68 million Indians are living in slums, according to a government census. Releasing the first such census report on slum households prepared by the Registrar General of India, Union Housing and urban poverty alleviation minister Ajay Maken today said that majority of them were located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Presenting the highlights of the report, Census Commissioner C Chandramouli said,...

Groups from across India gathered in Delhi recently to assess the Forest Rights Act’s journey since 2006. The law is often dubbed as ‘landmark’ because it ended the age-old illegality surrounding communities living in forest areas by entitling them to individual and community land title. It also went beyond the colonial paradigms of the forest bureaucracy to recognise community efforts at protecting and preserving forests. Numerous groups and individuals working...

-PTI The revised food security Bill may have got the Government nod and is likely to be brought in Parliament this week, but a NAC member has criticised the two-year delay in its passing, saying this crucial time could have been used to address policy issues that may pose hurdles in its implementation. “The Bill was first tabled in Parliament in 2011. I am deeply disappointed that its fate hanged in balance...

-The Hindu Those opposing Justice Katju’s suggestion of minimum qualifications for journalists are out of touch with reality Some years ago, the journalism entrance test at a career development institute in Mumbai had this objective-type question: Kofi Annan is (a) a Nigerian footballer (b) lead singer of a Sierra Leone pop group (c) a Sri Lankan delicacy (d) Secretary-General of the United Nations. The 100-odd candidates who appeared for the test were...