-The Telegraph New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the central government to increase wages under the national rural job scheme to at least Rs 300 a day to attract workers, a view apparently shared by many states as well as activists. An official in the rural development ministry said many state governments had already written to the Centre citing difficulties in implementing the MGNREGA because of the low...

-PTI New Delhi: The spectre of a drought looms over large parts of the country with 40 per cent of its land mass receiving "deficient" rainfall. "As of today, 47 per cent of the country has witnessed normal rainfall, 40 per cent deficient and merely 13 per cent excess precipitation. The overall deficiency has increased to 12 per cent," India Meteorological Department said, adding with the southwest monsoon expected to start withdrawing...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's labour arm has walked out of the countrywide strike that 11 unions had called on September 2 to press for a 12-point charter of demands. A recent government survey had ranked the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) as India's largest trade union body with a membership of 62 lakh. Congress-affiliated Intuc came a distant second with 39 lakh members while the CPI's labour wing, Aituc,...

-The Hindustan Times The skyrocketing prices of onions, a key ingredient used in making dishes ranging from curries to biryanis, reflects India’s inability to insulate staples from weather-induced supply disturbances. On Thursday onions traded at Rs 4,900 a quintal (or Rs 49 a kg) at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, India’s largest wholesale market for the crop. Inadequate supplies have pushed up prices sharply over the last few weeks. Already, retail onion prices have...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today told the Centre to respond within four weeks on whether it had set up a panel, as a two-judge bench had ordered, to monitor if its directive on regulating government advertisements was being followed. The court's order to form such a three-member body of persons - "unimpeachable" in their "neutrality" - had come on May 13, but the government is yet to constitute such a panel. Hence...