-The Indian Express Mumbai: Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on Saturday cited the Right to Education Act, 2009, and rural Employment guarantee scheme as examples that directive principles of the Constitution were being implemented. Chief Justice Kabir was speaking on ‘The Role of Directive Principles in Social Transformation' at the Fort campus of Mumbai university on Saturday. "These principles will remain empty words until they are translated into action," he said. Chief...

-Frontline   But in Modi's Gujarat the difference between development and darkness is all too visible to those who care to see. NARENDRA MODI may have won three consecutive elections and ruled Gujarat for more than a decade after he was posted there almost as a night watchman, to borrow a cricketing expression. He may have mobilised a massive fan following that is shouting to catapult him into the Prime Minister's post,...

-The Economic Times The UPA government's flagship Employment guarantee programme can play an important role in conserving natural resources and sustaining water supply and food production, according to a study. Conceived to provide livelihood security for the rural poor, the scheme can also help reduce and counter the impact of climate change in villages, according to the study, "Environmental Benefits and Vulnerability Reduction through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme"...

-The Hindu     The mistaken notion that the 53 per cent of India's population ‘dependent on agriculture' are all ‘farmers' leads many to dismiss the massive farmers' suicides as trivial There are nearly 15 million farmers (‘Main' cultivators) fewer than there were in 1991. Over 7.7 million less since 2001, as the latest Census data show. On average, that's about 2,035 farmers losing ‘Main Cultivator' status every single day for the last 20...

-The Hindu The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the amendments to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, piloted by the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. The Bill is intended to eradicate manual scavenging. The amendments incorporate provisions like identifying manual scavengers through a nation-wide survey and the mandatory inclusion of women in vigilance committees at all levels. The Bill was introduced on September 3, 2012,...