-The Indian Express Over 19,000 Gulf returnees register with government for training at the National Academy of Construction. As the latest unlock guidelines come into effect, Telangana has decided to go ahead with the rehabilitation of the Gulf migrants who have recently returned to the state owing to Covid-19 pandemic and other reasons. While the pandemic has expedited the process of their return, it was in October last year that Telangana Chief Minister...

-The Hindu Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The government is considering a proposal to exempt stamp duty on agricultural loans issued by commercial banks. Finance Minister K.M. Mani told a meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) here on Monday that a decision on the issue would be taken soon after assessing the financial implications. Pointing to the substantial share of commercial banks in primary sector credit, the last meeting of the SLBC had...

The impact of the global financial downturn has been felt keenly in the Middle Eastern emirate of Dubai - and that in turn is affecting the remote Indian village of Akhopur in the state of Bihar, from where Amarnath Tewary reports. In August 2008, Bharat Bhushan Tiwari - from Akhopur village in eastern Indian Bihar - took a loan of 71,000 rupees ($1,500) from a village moneylender to pay a...