-Associated Press   Bootleg liquor containing toxic methanol kilLED 143 people and sickened dozens more who drank the cheap, illicit brew bought at small shops in West Bengal, officials said Thursday. Police arrested 10 suspected bootleggers. Emergency medical teams rushed to the village outside Kolkata, and thousands of relatives, many of them wailing in grief, gathered outside the packed hospital. Inside, dead bodies lay on the floor covered in quilts, while the ill...

It is clearly the absence of political will rather than a paucity of ideas that is responsible for the country's agrarian crisis. EXACTLY seven years ago this month, the Commission on Farmers' Welfare, appointed by the government of Andhra Pradesh, submitted its report to the then Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. His Congress government assumed office earlier that year replacing the Telegu Desam Party regime LED by N. Chandrababu Naidu, which...

-IndiaInfoline.com The information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. Government has said that there is no definite findings indicating shortage of farm labourers due to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since MGNREGA is a demand driven scheme, backed by legislation, State Governments are obliged to provide up to 100 days of...

-PTI   The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from Haryana government on giving a rehabilitation package to 125 Dalits who were forced to leave their village after the killing of a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter were kilLED last year. A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi asked the state government to respond on the package by Friday. The court was hearing a PIL seeking monetary assistance for the...

-EPW   The ruling party and the opposition have become partners in the crime of destroying Parliament. The first nine days of the winter session of Parliament were completely lost due to repeated disruption of the house and adjournments. Most of the blame can be put at the door of the opposition parties which seem to have taken a decision not to allow the smooth functioning of Parliament, though some ruling party members...