Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...

In a setback to CBI, the Supreme Court on Friday upholds life sentence for Dara Singh, who killed Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in January 22, 1999. A bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan, while dismissing the agency's plea for death penalty, said the punishment can be imposed only in the "rarest of rare" cases depending upon the facts and situation of each case. The...

For past several weeks, thousands of farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand have been left in the lurch. They had planted urd and til crops in a large acreage, and to their dismay no grain formation took place in the standing crop. Unable to bear the economic loss, at least four farmers have reportedly committed suicide. Thousands of farmers have been pushed deeper into economic distress....

Observing that killing a six months pregnant wife is the most heinous and barbaric crime warranting the death penalty, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the husband, who was awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment why it should not be enhanced. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra also issued notice to Haryana on the appellant's 80-year-old mother, who was sentenced to two-year imprisonment. The Bench, however, granted...

A new United Nations report shows for the first time how poor health is linked to poverty in cities and calls on policymakers to identify those that need the most help and target measures to improve their well-being. The report, entitled “Hidden Cities: unmasking and overcoming health inequities in urban settings,” was launched today in Kobe, Japan, where leaders from governments, academia, media and non-governmental organizations have been meeting for the...