State governments will soon have a greater say in the stand the central government takes on key issues in the ongoing talks for opening up goods and services market in global trade at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The commerce department will hold regular consultations with state government officials on delicate issues such as safeguards to protect agriculture against indiscriminate imports and shielding sensitive industrial-goods sectors from competition, a commerce...

They plan to raise bank loans to build their own homes and take up agriculture Landless Dalit families in a Kancheepuram village have used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to prompt the district Administration to hand over land that was originally allotted to them several years ago, thanks to the initiative of a grassroots NGO. A total of 106 Dalit families in Alisoor village were allotted 100 sq m...

Hundreds of Dalits, under the banner of Punjab Dalit Chetna Manch, laid siege to the District Administrative Complex (DAC) and burnt the effigy of the district Administration for its alleged anti-Dalit approach. Some protesters tried self-immolation, while some youngsters climbed up the rooftop of the DAC threatening to jump, but heavy police force, led by SP (City) Sukhwant Singh Gill and DSP (City-II) Swarandeep Singh managed to persuade the protesters...

It is ironic that a farmer, who has to till his lands during monsoons is fighting to save his lands protesting in front of deputy commissioners office, said William DSouza, vice president, Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samithi here on Sunday. He was addressing the media at the site of the relay indefinite fast, which commenced on Thursday, in support of farmer Gregory Patrao. His agricultural lands were acquired by the Karnataka...

Development models that focus attention on the poor while expanding job opportunities, increased government spending on social services and aid flows from affluent nations are all successful strategies for alleviating global poverty, the United Nations says. Access to low carbon energy and mobilizing domestic capital by, for example, improving tax collection, are the other factors the UN Development Programme (UNDP) identifies in a new report as crucial factors for the...