-TheThirdPole.net This year, Bihar extended a seasonal Ban on mining sand from its rivers. But illegal sand mining continues every day across the eastern Indian state Deep inside the riverine belt of Koelwar in Bhojpur district of Bihar, around four to five kilometres from the main road and well out of sight, a dozen labourers are cutting and digging a portion of the Sone River in bright afternoon sunshine. Bare-chested, wielding spades...

-The Telegraph Officials said the government is weighing up the option of some kind of restrictions on the shipments of rice New Delhi: After wheat, the Centre is mulling curbs on rice exports as the acreage under the crop this season has shrunk about 13 per cent over the previous year because of deficient rains in key rice-growing states — leading to a rise in the price of the foodgrain. Analysts said the...

-Moneycontrol.com Rupee Co-operative Bank's depositors are dealing with financial hardships and navigating family emergencies as they struggle to access their own money In the 1990s, Virendra Kumar Joping’s father, a small-time carpenter, came to Pune from Rajasthan to earn a living. Over the years, he saved his hard-earned money by opening a fixed deposit in Rupee Co-operative Bank. Rupee Co-operative Bank was among the trusted names in Pune. Little did the Joping family...

-Newsclick.in The brake on the release of funds by the Centre, which has found blatant and persistent violation of norms by NaBanna, has queered Mamata Banerjee's pitch. Kolkata: It’s a tough call suddenly for Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee; TMC’s very comfortable majority in the Assembly notwithstanding. Mamata finds herself in an awkward situation after the arrest of two of her trusted aides – Partha Chatterjee and...

-The Telegraph Overall current account deficit in July rises to $21.04 billion (merchandise and services), commerce ministry reports on Friday Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Michael Patra has tried to soothe concerns about the anticipated surge in India’s current account deficit, suggesting that the country will not be roiled by a crisis if the CAD climbed to anywhere between 2.5 and 3 per cent of GDP. “Our experience has been that...