-PTI Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today said all sections of society should come forward to ponder over how a permanent solution could be found in rooting out extremism. "Naxal problem is a serious issue and there should not be any politics in it. It requires participation of all people to discuss and find a solution," Munda said here. He was responding to a media query on the Maoist attack on former speaker...

Sehal Sagar village in Rajasthan has won the national water award instituted by the water resources ministry Nestled in Rajasthan’s bone-dry Tonk district, Sehal Sagar village boasts of lush green fields, wells full to the brim and healthy cattle. The surprise transformation has been possible because the village follows rainwater harvesting and develops its pasture land. Sehal Sagar has an elaborate network of ponds, canals and chaukas which ensure that every drop...

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will visit Jungle Mahal on Saturday and meet Mamata Banerjee in Calcutta on Sunday to finalise a development package for the Maoist zone. The idea is to take up Jungle Mahal as a test case for the two-pronged approach of development and police action to rein in the rebels. The state government recently decided to resume counter-Maoist operations in the region. Ramesh will visit West Midnapore...

In this Idea Exchange moderated by Senior Editor Archna Shukla, I&B minister Ambika Soni speaks about self-regulation by the media, empowering the Press Council of India and the Congress party’s stand on corruption Archna Shukla: There is a growing perception that the government is unhappy with media criticism. The editor of a leading English daily publicly claimed that government advertisements have been stopped to his publication. Is the government being vindictive? I have...

A revamped version of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the government's flagship social sector programme, will be unveiled on November 14. The makeover, crafted by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission member Mihir Shah, promises to iron out administrative glitches that have dogged the six-year-old scheme, credited for boosting incomes but panned for stoking inflation. "We are ready with version 2 of MGNREGA. It will basically strengthen the...