On September 18 an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.8 by the Richter scale struck Sikkim at about 6.18 pm The epicentre of the quake was located about 67 kms north-west of Gangtok—the State capital. The epicenter was located to be precise at Mangan, the headquarter, of the Sikkim North district. There were about four-to-five aftershocks of lesser intensity within five-to-six hours. Minor tremors were felt even after a few...

-TCN News   Eight journalists from all over India have been selected for the 2011 Inclusive Media Fellowships of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). The recipients of the 2011 fellowships include three women reporters. For investigative and meaningful journalism, the fellows will spend time with rural communities to bring out their issues and anxieties for public and policy intervention. The Inclusive Media Project of CSDS also conducts media research...

The underlying assumption of the proposed Land Acquisition Bill seems that the price paid to farmers is unreasonably low due to dominant power of industrial buyers, requiring government intervention. The draft, however, may neither accelerate the pace of land acquisition for industry nor overcome the psychological barriers of landowners that impede land transfers. First, the psychological barriers that limit supply. One of the main reasons for the farmers’ (and land dependents’)...

-NDTV Profit   Some of India’s biggest and most-respected entrepreneurs have released an open letter to the government. The group which includes Wipro’s Azim Premji, Anu Aga of Thermax and HDFC's Deepak Parekh, refers to the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill that is meant to be introduced soon in Parliament. The industrialists write, “The Lokpal Bill is only one small but critical step in the national task of weeding out the plague of corruption...

-PTI   Dismissing charges of any sort of unfair treatment towards Jharkhand on developmental issues, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said Jharkhand spent only 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes. “There is a propaganda that Jharkhand is being discriminated. It is totally wrong. This year Jharkhand could spend only Rs. 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes, though it can spend Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 crore under MGNREGA as it is a...