-The Economic Times The Supreme Court has asked the government to implement the ambitious interlinking of the rivers project in a time-bound manner to tackle drought and flood in various parts of the country. The court also appointed a high-powered committee for planning and implementation of the project.  A bench comprising Chief Justice SH Kapadia, Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Swatanter Kumar on Monday said the Centre and concerned state governments should...

-The Telegraph The state rural development department has asked for a report from the Latehar district administration on Wednesday’s death of a 14-year-old girl while she was working in a well being constructed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In a letter issued today after The Telegraph carried a report highlighting the tragedy and its overall implications on the tardy implementation of the Centre’s job scheme in Jharkhand, rural...

-The Indian Express Exactly a month after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit, her government has allowed transportation of PDS rice to Tripura through her country. The Bangladesh government has approved the use of Ashuganj port as well as the Ashuganj-Agartala road across the international border to transport the first consignment of 5,000 tonnes of rice in the next couple of weeks, which will save Food Corporation of India (FCI) a circuitous...

The advance estimate of national income in 2011-12, released recently by the Central Statistical Organisation points to a decline in India’s GDP growth rate from 8.4 per cent last year to 6.9 per this year. The government, obsessed with growth rates, is deeply disappointed. Hence there is already talk of the need to respond and demands that the Reserve Bank of India should reduce interest rates are being heard. There...

Handloom weavers in Andhra Pradesh are in a crisis brought on by policy blindness and the emphasis on powerlooms. WHEN P. Pulliah, a weaver in the traditional cotton handloom centre of Chirala in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, describes the sarees he crafts, thread by delicate thread, his face lights up with joy. He animatedly explains that the sarees have a border on both sides. And they are fully embellished, he...