Mayawati's quick reflexes after the setback over land acquisition in Aligarh has put Congress in a spot, with the Centre fearing it may be dubbed the villain for farmers' woes if it does not prevail upon Trinamool Congress to relent on the bills for Land Acquisition amendment and R&R. After Uttar Pradesh brought its liberal Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy to win over farmers riled by "low land rates" for Yamuna...

Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Sunday the authorities were not taking enough steps to bridge the widening gap between the rich and the poor. He raised questions over the implementation of major schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) and accused the Union government of “relentlessly” supporting the stock market, thinking its health reflected the people's health. Delivering a lecture here...

Owing to floods and incessant rains in northern India's Haryana, crops have been badly affected due to which the prices of the vegetables have gone up. Though the floods have receded in some parts of the area but large swathes of crops have been washed away. The wholesale rate for tomato has gone as high as Rs 40/kg, while the retail rate in some markets has reached Rs 60/kg. "Due to incessant rain...

The government’s ambitious plan of building around 18,637 km expressways by 2022 has hit a roadblock. Following the recent farmers protests against the Yamuna expressway project in Uttar Pradesh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s remark favouring justifiable compensation for land acquisition, the government has decided to go back to the drawing board on the creation of an expressway authority and the funding pattern of the projects. The ministry of road...

A seven-state survey that tracked rural internet awareness shows that about 84% were ignorant of the medium's existence. Of those who make use of the net, 85% access emails, 67% watch video and listen to music and 48% conduct educational research. Interestingly about 13% utilize the internet to know about latest farming techniques and 8% to find about fertilizers. Primary research also shows that as compared to 2008, there is...