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...

Hard To Ignore...     * Farmers of East Godavari and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh have declared a crop holiday this kharif season     * No paddy will be sown across 1.5 lakh acres in the two districts     * Farmers are demanding better minimum support price and subsidies on inputs     * They say the rising cost of inputs causes farmers to lose Rs 10,000-15,000 per acre     * If the farmers stick...

-The Hindu   The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Karnataka on media reports that around 8,000 people still make a living through the banned practice of manual scavenging in the State. The Commission, which suo motu took cognizance of the reports, said that if they were true, they raised a serious issue of violation of the human rights of those engaged in the inhuman job. The notice, returnable in four...

-MensXP.com While everyone has been animatedly supporting Anna Hazare's fight against corruption, people seem to have forgotten who the people are who actually led to this situation. The peak of irony was when Anna was, allegedly, lodged in the same jail that housed the people who were responsible for two of the biggest scams in the country ever. How must the authorities have felt when they saw Raja and Kalmadi fill their...

-The Hindu   The Election Commission has asked the Chief Electoral Officers of States and Union Territories to obtain the standard advertisement rate cards of television and radio channels and the print media six months before the Lok Sabha/Assembly elections so as to check ‘paid news' and the misuse of the media by political parties. In a recent letter to the CEOs, the Commission said this was to ensure uniformity while dealing with...