Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has proposed an “ACTIONS” plan as the guiding principle for the 12th Five Year Plan, putting off the Planning Commission's suggestion to axe Centrally sponsored schemes and give States a free hand to chart their path of development. After his meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu of the discussion they had on...

WITH GOVERNMENT agencies like the CBI, NIA and NATGRID having escaped the RTI scanner, publicprivate ventures too are trying to slink away even as activists rally to include them under the Act. After the Central Information Commission (CIC) ruled on 30 May that Mumbai International Airport (Private) Limited (MIAL) is a public authority, the company was set to be the first Public- private Partnership (PPP) to be brought under RTI....

-The Times of India   Maoist-affected districts across the country might have seen years of neglect by successive governments, but a new Central scheme - Integrated Action Plan (IAP) - under the UPA-II is fast filling up the 'critical gap' in those 'deficit zones' through taking up a number of development projects. As many as 67,072 basic infrastructure projects across 60 districts in nine states have been taken up at Rs 2,740...

The Supreme Court order against the Salwa Judum’s vigilantism in Chhattisgarh must be read by all, especially government officials. The details of the civil war in the tribal districts of Chhattisgarh are largely unknown to most readers of this newspaper. For the region is remote and inaccessible, and easily ignored by the national media.   This civil war pits, on the one side, Maoist extremists, and, on the other, a band of...

-The Telegraph   The Mamata Banerjee government has kickstarted a process to hold talks with Maoists without mentioning conditions but acknowledged the responsibilities of governance by adding that central forces will remain until Jungle Mahal is cleansed of arms. The initiative also sought to address a fundamental issue often overlooked by the security and political establishments: the chief minister gave an assurance that the villagers will retain the right to forest resources so...