-The United Nations About 70 per cent of new diseases infecting humans in recent decades have come from animals, the United Nations food agency today reported, warning that it is getting easier for diseases jump species and spread as the population, agriculture and food-supply chains grow. The ongoing expansion of agricultural lands into wild areas, coupled with a worldwide boom in livestock production, means that "livestock and wildlife are more in contact...

-NDTV A Parliamentary standing committee has agreed with the government that political parties do not come under the Right to Information or RTI Act. The landmark transparency law, passed by the UPA I government in 2005, is often flaunted by Congress Number 2 Rahul Gandhi as a precursor to the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, currently being pushed by the government in Parliament. All political parties barring Odisha-based Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party...

-PTI Batting for bringing flexibility in UPA's flagship NREGA, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the scheme has failed to achieve the three objectives of wage employment, creating community assets and empowering gram panchayats at the same time in any state. Stating that all jobs cannot be provided in areas where the youths want them, he called for encouraging migration across all states and noted with concern the "discrimination" in housing...

-Deccan Herald Out of 11 crore pan Card holders, only 3.5 crore file Income Tax returns Concerned over tax collection not keeping pace with the growth in income and wealth, a Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that the tax department should encourage pan card holders libel for tax to file their income tax returns. The committee, in its latest report tabled in Parliament, said that the Permanent Account Number (pan) has been allotted...

-Outlook Batting for bringing flexibility in UPA's flagship NREGA, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today said the scheme has failed to achieve the three objectives of wage employment, creating community assets and empowering gram panchayats at the same time in any state. Stating that all jobs cannot be provided in areas where the youths want them, he called for encouraging migration across all states and noted with concern the "discrimination" in housing suffered...