-The Hindu Koynanagar (Maharashtra): First, a dam, then an earthquake and finally a tiger reserve — families in Satara district’s Koyna have been displaced thrice in one generation. In 1960, the people had to move, paving the way for the Koyna dam; in 1967 following the earthquake and then for the Koyna tiger reserve in 1985, says Jagannath Vibhute, an activist of the Shramik Mukti Dal and one of the many...

-The Telegraph Congress leaders today pleaded with finance minister P. Chidambaram to not compromise on social sector schemes despite constraints of a sliding economy as the party has to face a series of polls this year followed by the general election in 2014. At the annual pre-budget consultation with the party, Chidambaram explained the difficulties created by slow domestic growth and continuing global recession while admitting the importance of sustaining social sector...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Market regulator Sebi on Wednesday cracked down on the retail-to-financial services Sahara group and ordered the attachment of all assets of two Sahara group firms, besides freezing their bank accounts and those of their promoters and directors including that of group head Subrata Roy. Sebi's crackdown on the two Sahara group firms—Sahara Housing Investment Corp and Sahara India Real Estate Corp — comes exactly a week after...

-IANS The railway ministry has asked the rural development ministry to bring its projects in far-off and rural areas under the rural job guarantee scheme. "A number of our projects in railways, including regular maintenance, require unskilled labour forces. Most of such works are connected with earthwork, construction and maintenance of embankments, cuttings, trenching, filling, developing water ways and clearing vegetational growth," Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said in a letter to...

-PTI The Centre has asked all departments under it to ensure that RTI applicants are informed in time about payment of additional fees as photocopying charges and others. The directive came after the Central Information Commission (CIC) approached the Department of Personnel and Training, a nodal department for implementation of the transparency law, with complaints from various RTI applicants. It has been brought to the notice of CIC that some Central...