Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday urged Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to consider including the rearing of animals, dairy and coir industries, and water management under the ambit of jobs provided in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA). He wanted the Centre to include livelihood schemes, housing, and toilet construction in the list of works that could be undertaken under the MGNREGA. Mr. Chandy, who met Mr. Ramesh...

At a time when protest against corruption is making headlines across the country, crusaders for people’s rights are at the receiving end in Bihar. An RTI activist from Rohtas, Ashok Paswan (49), has allegedly received a threat to his life for seeking information on alleged financial irregularities in disbursement of loans to farmers by a nationalised bank in the district. “I received a call on my mobile around 5.30pm on Friday. The...

Emboldened by the swelling crowds at Ramlila Maidan, Gandhian anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare upped the ante within hours of emerging from Tihar Jail on Friday. He set a three-week deadline for Parliament to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, pending which he wouldn't budge from the ground. This was not only contrary to his group's commitment to vacate the protest site by August 31, but was also seen to be brushing...

-The Business Standard   Much depends on a strong implementation framework but the imposition of a cap by the Planning Commission could lead to arbitrary exclusions. Himanshu Assistant Professor of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University The methodology, which is based on the framework suggested by the Saxena Committee, uses indicators that have been refined using a large-scale pilot survey There are over 400 million poor (the number varies depending on which estimate you...

Sushma blasts PM & defends RSS role in stir SUSHMA Swaraj, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday of presenting a “ pack of lies” to Parliament on the Anna Hazare episode even as she mounted a strong defence of the BJP’s ideological mother, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS), and its support to the Hazare- led movement. In an agitated speech, interrupted...