Sections of vendors and “willing” farmers have alleged discrimination over the Singur bill, suggesting that they may move court if the state government does not address their concerns. Vendors demanded that they be compensated for the investment made at the Nano site. But the government, which has specifically said in the bill that “none of the vendors has obtained any deed of lease in terms of their respective letters of allotment”,...

-The Indian Express   Amid a war of words between government and civil society members over the Lokpal Bill, both sides will meet here tomorrow to draft it even as Anna Hazare today reminded ministers that differences could be resolved through dialogue and not through confrontation. As the government and Congress continued its attack on civil society members, Hazare said he could not force anyone not to level allegations like he was...

It's that time of the year when Kishore Lal Singh's eyes almost involuntarily scan the skies. The monsoons are coming. In the months ahead, for this Bhil farmer growing cotton, maize and soya south of the Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh, life will again hang on a knife's edge. If it rains well, his two bighas (about four basketball courts) of cotton will yield 1,000 kg. If not, he will...

The Centre is exploring the option of helping out Bengal by stepping up assistance for specific schemes, a route that allows room for manoeuvre within rules. The Centre’s line of thought emerged on a day Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra was in Delhi to discuss ways to bail out the cash-starved state government. Mitra, who had an hour- long meeting with his Union counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, remained tight-lipped on what they discussed....

-The Hindu   Study says there are six crore child labourers in the country ‘Greed for maximisation of profit fuels demand for child labour' Amid heated debate over bringing back unwarranted money stashed abroad, a child rights outfit has claimed that child labour generates Rs.1.2-lakh crore of black money every year in India. According to a report ‘Capital Corruption: Child Labour in India,' prepared by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the figure was arrived...