-The Times of India AURANGABAD: The khadi and paithani department of the Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) trust is planning to spread its wings in rural areas of the state by employing women to operate handlooms in Akola district and its neighbouring four villages. The objective behind this initiative is to promote and popularize khadi among youth. Through this mission, the department has come up with the idea of producing khadi jeans to...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: The state information commission, mandated to ensure enactment of a sunshine law that aims to empower citizens by allowing access to crucial official documents and decisions has stopped work in Jharkhand as it has no officer to hear cases. Headed by chief information commissioner Justice (retired) D.K.Sinha, the commission is meant to have 10 information commissioners (IC) to hear cases filed under the Right to Information Act. But, all posts...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday declared that all districts of Tamil Nadu, except Chennai, were drought-hit. After a disastrous monsoon and with Karnataka proving intractable on release of Cauvery water, experts said the CM's statement appeared calculated to buttress the state's case in court for immediate relief. But Jayalalithaa injected the declaration with a sense of urgency, saying finance minister O Paneerselvam would lead a high-level team...

-South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People   The Expert Approval Committee has zero rejection in six years The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests’ (MoEF) Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects (RVP) has considered a total of 262 hydropower and irrigation projects in close to six years since April 2007 when the new committee was set up to its latest, 63rd meeting in December 2012. An...

-Live Mint Parliamentary committee’s proposals on the food security Bill are an improvement over the original The standing committee of Parliament, set up to examine the National Food Security Bill (NFSB), has finally given its recommendations. With this, the Bill has moved one step closer to seeing daylight. The recommendations, which are not binding on the government, will now be considered by the Union cabinet before being put to vote in Parliament.   The...