In a volte-face, social activist Anna Hazare, whose praise for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had invited displeasure from his own supporters, on Thursday described the State as a “land of scams” where despite prohibition “more liquor flows than milk.” Mr. Hazare, who, along with fellow activists Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal, was on a day's visit to the State for an “interaction” with the people to take inputs for the...

Weighed down by an unending season of corruption, the political leadership of ruling the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has stepped in to rescue the regime’s flagship rural employment guarantee scheme from discredit due to mounting allegations of endemic irregularities. The National Advisory Council of the UPA, headed by Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday asked the Manmohan Singh government to expedite notification of the much-awaited rules that would allow public scrutiny of the...

Villagers in Nuagaon, Gadakujang and Dhinkia have accused the United Action Committee (UAC) of helping the government acquire betelvines for the proposed Posco project. Ranjan Swain of Nuagaon, said, "For five years, the betelvines were a stumbling block for Posco to acquire land for its Rs 52,000 crores project at Gadakujang, Dhinkia and Nuagaon gram panchayats. But now their movement against Posco is falling like ninepins and the authority has...

-The Business Standard   The land acquisition for the 12 million tonne Posco steel plant in Orissa has picked up pace with United Action Committee, a pro Posco outfit active at the project site near Paradip, extending its support to the process. On the fifth day of the exercise today, the revenue officials demolished 36 betel vines on the government land and distributed compensation of Rs 57 lakh to the beneficiaries in...

-Express News Service   Even as irregularities in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been making headlines, a discrepancy in the scheme was reported from Dumuriput village under Padampur panchayat in Koraput block. Vehicles have been put to use and only a minimum number of job card-holders engaged in the construction work of approach road to the village from the old national highway. The work started a few...