A three-member team of experts, headed by economist Bibek Debroy, began its job of mapping a growth path of politically unstable Jharkhand today by meeting chief minister Arjun Munda and discussing the contours of a state development report. Working on a three-month time frame, Debroy, who was approached by Munda to take up the assignment, said his meeting with the chief minister was productive. “He has given us some thoughts to work...

A meticulous study of the agrarian relations in three villages. ONE of our senior sociologists once drew my attention to the distinction between economics and other social sciences. Other social sciences – sociology and anthropology, for instance – he said, pay a great deal of attention to gathering primary data and interpreting them, whereas economics relies on secondary data for its analysis. This is, to a large extent, a fair...

Contradicts Centre's line on issue of minimum wages payment Going against the view of the United Progressive Alliance government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has favoured the payment of statutory minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The NAC's line is in conflict with the January 1, 2009 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, delinking the MNREGS wages from The...

The RTI website of the State has been awarded as the best user-friendly website in the Country. A high profile event for choosing best website in the country conducted by India eGov 2.0 in New Delhi on October 28 choose States RTI Central Mechanism (RTI CMM) as the best user-friendly website and conferred India eGov 2.0 Awards-2010. The States RTI website is now connecting as many as 1800 offices and providing...

It was an achievement that Uttar Pradesh’s Majhwara village cherished, calling it a victory of ballot over bullet. A day after the cremation of her husband — revenue inspector Ram Kumar Yadav — Kamla Yadav won the election for the Post of the pradhan of this village in Sultanpur district. Ram Kumar was kidnapped and murdered after the October 11 polling. He was targetted — allegedly by BSP legislator Chandrabhadra Singh alias...