-First Post With 10 state assembly elections this year and the general election in the next, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) faces possibly its sternest challenge since it returned to power in 2009. It goes without saying that the forthcoming electoral tests have been compounded by the perceptibly declining political standing of the ruling alliance caused by multiple scams and economic stagnation. In addition, defeats in a series of elections ranging...

-The Times of India PUDUCHERRY: India will vote in support of a US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka proposed to be moved before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva next month, Union minister in the Prime Minister's Office ( PMO) V Narayansamy said on Sunday. Talking to reporters, he said that PM manmohan singh has promised to support the resolution against Sri Lanka on war crimes and human rights violations...

-PTI The jobs scheme has expedited the financial inclusion of the rural population, says manmohan singh Prime Minister manmohan singh on Saturday said bank and post office accounts opened under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) will help the government provide direct cash transfers to the people. “MNREGA has brought momentum in the financial inclusion of our rural population. Besides direct financial benefit, the scheme has given many indirect benefits...

-The Times of India The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) through an appeal on Monday urged Prime Minister manmohan singh to abolish death penalty and spare Veerappan's associates - Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran from the impending execution. These associates of Veerappan were sentenced to death in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka in 1993 in which 22 police personnel were killed and their mercy...

-The Asian Age Ahead of the Union Budget, senior ministers of the UPA appear to be petitioning Prime Minister manmohan singh with claims and counter-claims over the performance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA).   After finance minister P. Chidambaram apparently tried to impress upon the Prime Minister for cut in MNREGA budget, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, in a letter to Dr Singh, has rebutted his colleague’s perception about...