-The Hindu Mumbai: Accusing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of ignoring his warnings on the severity of the drought impacting Marathawada, where the local police had to invoke Section 144 to prevent violence over water, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav on Saturday said 31 per cent of the gram panchayats in drought-affected districts had not shown any expenditure under MGNREGS, according to official data, till March 31. Mr. Yadav said his organisation...

-Business Standard 2,170 million person-days planned for FY17, compared with 2,391 million person-days last year At a time when nearly half of India's 676 districts are grappling with a second consecutive year of drought, the government expects a decline in the demand for work under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in 2016-17. The estimated number of days when people in rural India will be offered work under MGNREGS...

-The Hindu Business Line How Uttarakhand has roped in top scientists to popularise science among schoolchildren Twice each year, the sleepy town of Gangolihat in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand comes alive as hundreds of school students from nearby areas throng the campus of the Himalayan Gram Vikas SAMiti (HGVS) to have their scientific curiosities addressed by top scientists from prestigious research institutes. These month-long events have been held annually during April-May and October-November...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The women and child development ministry (WCD) has written to the Rajya Sabha seeking to withdraw its response on marital rape describing it as an "oversight." The fresh response that the ministry is likely to put before Parliament is that the issue is under law commission's consideration. WCD minister Maneka Gandhi's response to a Parliament question in Rajya Sabha terming marital rape as a concept unsuited...

-The Hindu Kolkata: Ms. Banerjee declared in her affidavit that her movable assets amount to Rs. 30,45,012. Her assets in September 2011 was Rs. 15,84,189. The assets of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee have nearly doubled in the past five years after she assumed office of Chief Minister of West Bengal. Ms. Banerjee, who filed her nomination papers on Friday to contest from Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in the city, declared in her affidavit...