-The Business Standard The Planning Commission needs to be replaced by institutions prescribed under the Constitution for the functions it usurped The Planning Commission was a powerful centre of extra-constitutional authority, but not because the Constitution overlooked the need for the roles that it played. The prescription of fiscal flows from Centre to states was assigned under Article 280 to Finance Commissions, set up every five years with what by convention...

-The Hindu Forest Dept. evicts them from Land they cultivated in Dongarampur Raichur (Karnataka): These Landless Dalit families are still searching for their Land allotted under the Land Ceiling Act. Paramesh, a Dalit farmer from Dongarampur village in Raichur taluk, has been running from pillar to post for the last one year in Raichur to find his 2.26 acres of Land that his father Jambappa had been allotted under the Act about...

-The Business Standard Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government has decided to increase the subsidy amount to farmers opting for installation of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in the state. The government would provide 25 per cent of the total cost of drip and sprinkler installation to small farmers and medium farmers. The big farmers would get 10 per cent of the total cost as subsidy. "The state government has hiked its contribution in...

-The Hindu High tension electricity towers installed in fields render the Land partially useless Hyderabad (Telengana): Mohd Burhan, a small farmer, is faced with a piquant situation. He has to marry off his daughter and all he has is a piece of Land to meet the expenditure. Well, he is prepared to sell away his 10 guntas situated at Ibrahimpally near Chevella for the marriage. But there are simply no takers. A few...

-Outlook Bhubaneshwar: 'Universal Identity Cards' would be issued to people with disabilities for which a survey would begin next month to ascertain the exact number of disabled people in the country, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said today. "The census figure does not provide a clear and proper picture on the actual number of disabled persons. Our ministry has decided to conduct a country-wide survey to identify people...