-The Times of India Unnao, a district in Uttar Pradesh, rarely hits headlines except when its rabble-rousing MP Sakshi Maharaj says something. Now, though, it is making news for all the right reasons, and aren't the women in the region tickled pink about it. From the district magistrate to the superintendent of police, the chief development officer to the chief medical officer, from the zila panchayat president to the sub-divisional magistrate,...

-The Times of India New Delhi: MGNREGA, the rural job guarantee scheme that completes 10 years on Tuesday, is set to touch off a fresh battle of political messaging, with the Modi government deciding to consecrate the scheme as a government priority and Rahul Gandhi travelling to a remote Andhra hamlet to celebrate it as a Congress programme. The competition between BJP and Congress for ownership of the programme marks a rare...

-The Hindu Business Line Going by the experience worldwide, it is unlikely to generate jobs in the formal sector Changes in land and labour laws are the two most important components of the second generation of economic reforms. Since early 1990, a slew of economic reforms have been initiated in almost all sectors. However, the governments in power from 1990 through 2014 did not introduce radical changes in the prevailing land and...

-The Indian Express Haryana panchayat poll outcome does not reflect the state’s social composition The panchayat elections in Haryana have yielded results drastically different from previous elections. This is because a large number of persons were barred from contesting these elections due to educational and other disqualifications introduced through amendments by the Haryana assembly in September last year. In the widely criticised Rajbala and others vs State of Haryana judgment, the Supreme...

-Business Standard Keeps records of deliberations and biosafety data under lock Keeping its agenda, records of discussions and results of safety trials under wraps, the environment ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is set to decide next week whether it is safe to commercially grow genetically modified mustard. The committee is scheduled to meet on February 5 and could make a final recommendation on what could be India’s first commercially-grown genetically modified...