-The Hindu   The government on Tuesday said it would soon undertake a survey of the number of manual scavenger in the country so that they could get benefits of various schemes meant for them. Replying to a calling attention notice on need to take adequate safety measures to protect the lives of ‘safai karmacharis' by Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik said the Centre...

-Express News Service The government will introduce the Citizens’ Charter Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Monday. Once introduced, the legislation, called The Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Their Redressal, will be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The move for a separate Bill dealing with the issues covered under the Citizens’ Charter of Team Anna had been...

-PTI Not yielding to Anna Hazare's demand, government is understood to have decided to keep CBI out of the purview of the proposed Lokpal. This is the view that has emerged out of the discussions senior ministers, who are lawyers in their own right, had among themselves and had reportedly recommended to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The draft Cabinet note, to which officials of the Personnel and Legislative department had given final touches...

-PTI   Research work related to genetic modification (GM) in the agriculture sector is being conducted on 72 crops/plant species, Parliament was informed. "According to information available with ICAR ( Indian Council of Agricultural Research), research related to genetic modification is currently being carried out in 72 crops/plant species," Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. GM research is being carried in cotton, soyabean, rice, maize,...

The Rs.3,884-crore package for the handloom sector, which includes one-time waiver of overdue loans and interests, approved by the Union Cabinet, is expected to benefit about 3-lakh weavers and 15,000 cooperative societies, which would have access to institutional credit once again. However, the package will benefit only those who took loan before March 31, 2010. “There would be many weavers who had no access to institutional credit in the past and...