-The Business Standard The Union ministry of rural development proposes to introduce flexibility in implementation of its flagship programmes across the country. Minister Jairam Ramesh said, “In a phased manner, 50 per cent of the funds earmarked for rural development programmes will be transferred to state governments to implement the schemes as per their requirements, subject to broad guidelines. The rest of the funds will be spent as per the national guidelines...

-PTI Eight months ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls, the cyber space has become a battlefield between supporters of tech-savvy Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his opponents.  Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, blogs, e-mails, websites, video uploading sites and every possible avenue on the internet is being used to attract the attention of the net-savvy, especially youths, towards Modi.  His opponents, chiefly the Congress, which calls him an "internet manipulator"...

The agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant can be seen as a case of activism gone berserk. The high-octane drama against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu has wound down. The seven-month-long agitation led by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) at Idinthakarai village in Tirunelveli district, demanding the closure of the ready-to-be commissioned project, ended on March 27 when S.P. Udayakumar, PMANE convener, called off...

E-mail circulated by an RTI activist alleges irregularities in the Chira Bazaar cluster development project On Sunday, when Anna Hazare sounded the war cry against the government with a day-long fast in Delhi, the India Against Corruption cadres in Mumbai were battling a crisis that can severely dent the reputation of one of Anna’s top aides. On the radar is Mayank Gandhi, the face of the India Against Corruption movement in Mumbai;...

An environmental scientist continues his relentless battle to save the Ganga, this time by starting a fast unto death. THE campaign to save the Ganga has cost one life in the hill State of Uttarakhand. The life of another activist now hinges on the government's commitment. In 2011, Swami Nigamananda of Matri Sadan undertook a fast unto death demanding an end to illegal sand mining in the Ganga, at least in Haridwar...