-The Telegraph The Supreme Court has said it wants to end judicial monitoring of social welfare schemes, saying the task should be left to experts and courts “can’t be setting economic policy”. The court had earlier taken umbrage at the government for fixing the poverty line at a measly Rs 32 per day per person in urban areas and suggested free distribution of foodgrain, causing consternation in the government which felt that...

-The Indian Express Firebrand leader who rose swiftly till downfall She rose swiftly through the ranks, having made her mark as a firebrand leader who had saffron politics as part of her legacy. Mayaben Surendrabhai Kodnani, convicted of murder, conspiracy and spreading communal hatred, is the daughter of a staunch RSS worker who had suffered the pains of Partition, moving from Tharparkar in Sind province to Deesa in Gujarat. Kodnani, the first sitting...

-The Economic Times Rural India is getting fast on the information superhighway. Rural India has 38 million claimed internet users and 31 million active internet users, according to a report on 'Internet in Rural India' by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB. The penetration of claimed internet users in rural India has grown from 2.6% in 2010 to 4.6% in 2012, a CAGR of 73%. On the other...

-PTI Two hundred and fifty people of two Tripura villages were displaced when a portion of an embankment of Kakri river was washed away in flash floods, official sources said today. Gobindapur and Hurua villages of North Tripura district were submerged when a portion of the embankment was washed away in the flash flood triggered by incessant rain yesterday displacing the people belonging to 76 families, the sources said. The displaced have taken...

-The Hindu The ongoing peaceful protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KKNPP), which began in the early 1980s intensified after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The protests revolve around fears over public safety and health arising from the existence and operation of the nuclear facility. The protesters, the men, women and children of Idinthakarai and surrounding villages, have consistently demanded transparency and honest public consultation. They do not need high...