Paradip, July 16: Things were back on the boil today in Posco project area. Tension mounted in the zone as at least eight protesters, mostly women, were injured following an alleged use of force by police at Polang village. Officials engaged in land acquisition process for the steel plant project were forced to retreat with project-related work left grounded today amidst stiff resistance from landlosers. The land acquisition process and ancillary...

-PTI   Critical over the leakage of funds meant for the rural poor, the National Human Rights Commission has suggested that the government should conduct a social audit of flagship programmes like MGNREGA and ICDS to have an assessment on what is the impact on ground. A top NHRC official said the government''s various studies and reports had shown that there was no match between the programmes and performance as the authorities...

-IBN   An RTI query has revealed major irregularities in the appointment of clerical staff in a district court in Gujarat, with most of them being relatives of judges. Four years after 80 vacancies for stenographers, clerks and peons were filled up, questions are being raised over the transparency in which these appointments were made. Response to an application filed by RTI activist Janki Prasad Shah revealed that 32 of the total...

-The Economic Times   Nearly 70 per cent of the country's population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the latest Census. Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas, said the Census of India's 2011 Provisional Population Totals of Rural-Urban Distribution in the country, released...

-The Business Standard A panel headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has advocated the use of unique identification numbers to plug loopholes in the public distribution system (PDS). The working group on PDS reforms, which finalised its draft report today, has also suggested a nationwide computerised system for tracking transportation and distribution of PDS items. “We have approved the draft report and will give it to the Prime Minister...