Jharkhand’s implementation of the Centre’s flagship scheme to grant land rights to forest dwellers has been extremely poor, ringing hollow promises by successive governments to uphold rights of over three lakh tribals of the state. According to a report prepared by a 19-member committee constituted by the Union ministry of environment and forests, 24 districts of Jharkhand had granted land rights to a mere 7,207 forest dwellers under Scheduled Tribes and...

The city crime branch has found definite leads to a political motive behind the murder of whistleblower and RTI activist Amit Jethava. A top political leader from Saurashtra is being suspected of have pAid to kill Jethava through his nephew identified as ‘Pratap' who is close to police constableBahadur Wadher from Kodinar in Junagadh. The police are believed to have brought four more persons for questioning in this case, from...

The World Bank has agreed to provide USD 900 million financial Aid to Pakistan which has been hit by devastating floods affecting 14 million people and leading to crop loss estimated at USD 1 billion. "The Government of Pakistan has requested around USD 900 million of financial support from the World Bank, which we have committed to provide," the World Bank sAid in statement. The current floods have claimed over 1700 lives...

The fund crunch for the government’s rural roads programme appears all set to affect road construction efforts in the worst Naxal-affected districts where the government is contemplating to saturate road requirements — by connecting every habitation — beyond the rigid norms of Bharat Nirman and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The Rural Development Ministry, which administers the rural connectivity programme, is learnt to have apprised an empowered group of officers,...

The government is collaborating with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to ensure that India’s flagship welfare programme leads to a tangible improvement in the human development index among the scheme’s beneficiaries. UNDP and the Union government have launched a pilot project aimed at making the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) more efficient and effective by coordinating it with other development programmes. “The idea is to leverage this massive...