-The Hindu Deal to ensure bail for Gali Janardhan Reddy struck for a whopping Rs. 20 crore, say sources As the enquiry into the cash-for-bail scam involving the former Karnataka Minister, Gali Janardhan Reddy, entered a crucial phase with the arrest of the retired judge, T.V. Chalapathi Rao, and another person, the big question before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is whether the accused had a larger design than merely securing the bail...

-The Hindu Operation Blossom Spring first taken up at Periye Authorities started the process of detoxifying endosulfan stocked in three warehouses of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala here on Sunday. Operation Blossom Spring was first taken up at the warehouse at Periye, Transferring 914.55 litres of the pesticide in six corroded barrels to high-density polyethylene barrels. A team of personnel from Hindustan Insecticide Ltd. and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board and medical experts...

The government will soon come out with an ambulance code to check the practice of vans and goods vehicles being turned into makeshift and ill-equipped ambulances that pose a risk to patients’ lives and limbs. By the end of this month, a committee that includes doctors is expected to finalise the draft of the national ambulance code, which will specify requirements from design to equipment to personnel. (See chart) “Most ambulances in...

-The Times of India DALTONGANJ: Almost 725 incomplete wells being constructed under the MGNREGA scheme in Palamu will now wait for the winter to restart the work. These wells were dug up to five feet depth or even less than that. Now with the rain around, the Palamu administration has put an embargo on any further digging up as the rainwater force the wells to collapse. Palamu DC Pooja Singhal has confirmed...

-IANS The government's plan to replace the public distribution system (PDS) with direct cash Transfer into people's accounts under the proposed Food Security Bill is not getting any takers, some social activists said here Friday. According to the proposal, the PDS through which subsidised foodgrains are made available to people will be replaced with direct cash subsidies where a fixed amount will be Transferred into people's bank accounts each month. Talking to media...