-Economic and Political Weekly The failure by the police to file a First Information Report is the subject of much debate but the Final Report by which a case is closed has received scant attention. This article reflects on the findings following a study of 100 Final Reports each under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The police's differential stance...

-Down to Earth Ministry of rural development will channelise MPs' funds through different schemes for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to restructure the existing Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme in a holistic way. He launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Saturday, under which2,379 model villages will be developed across the country in the next five years. There are 793 Members of Parliament...

-DNA Joining ranks with nearly ten other big states, Gujarat government has now decided not to allow field trials of any Genetically Modified (GM) food crops within its boundaries. The decision is a significant one as it comes from the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi which he was leading till few months ago. Now with Gujarat also saying no to field trials of GM crops, Maharashtra remains the only state...

Documents availed through RTI reveals that the Rural Development minister Shri Nitin Gadkari has ordered to bring drastic changes in the schedule of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which includes changing the labour to material ratio and restricting the implementation of MGNREGA in 1/3rd of backward blocks in India (please click here to access a note on labour-material ratio prepared by People's Action for Employment Guarantee-PAEG). The MoRD has notified the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Overriding objections raised by senior officials, rural development minister Nitin Gadkari has ordered far-reaching changes in the job guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) which has provided seasonal work to one in three rural households in the last eight years. Documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activists show file notings by a senior official in the ministry arguing that Gadkari's announcements run contrary to the...