The Centre is gearing up to unveil a special package for Vidarbha in Maharashtra, on the lines of Bundelkhand, to improve the conditions of cotton farmers in the region, which has seen unabated suicid

The Centre is gearing up to unveil a special package for Vidarbha in Maharashtra on the lines of Bundelkhand in a bid to improve the condition of cotton farmers in the region, which has seen unabated

Despite reports of a few women having reportedly walked out of wedlock for lack of sanitation facilities, Union rural development mi-nister Jairam Ramesh on Friday claimed that “women demand mobile phones, they are not demanding toilets” to drive home the point that “there were certain cultural norms associated with open defecation”.

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh appears to have set off a controversy with his remark, that “women demand mobile phones but not toilets”. Prominent women slammed the minister for making the remark.
Madhu Kishwar, a senior academician, in a sharp reaction said, “May be it (the remark) could be true for women that Jairam knows.”

Citing the rising input costs, the state governments have sought from the ministry of rural development to significantly enhance allocation under flagship schemes. The rural ministry is considering the state governments’ demands to increase the rate of allocation for per unit kilometre of roads built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), dwelling units under Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) among others.

Much to the discomfort of the UPA, the temperamental chief minister of West Bengal, Ms Mamata Banerjee, appears to be going the way of her Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Ms Mayawati. Even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh instructed food minister K.V. Thomas to speak to Ms Banerjee to address her concerns on the Food Bill, his ministry appears to be running from pillar to post to get an appointment with the Trinamul Congress chief.

In a bid to improve the UPA-II’s image, the top ministers of the Union government are likely to travel across the states to interact with the local media and hold GoM briefings there if need be.

It’s caste, not corruption, that dominates Uttar Pradesh, where voters appear to have shunned the sermons of self-styled Gandhian Anna Hazare.

“Thank you, Anna Hazare, for making us aware about corru

It’s caste, not corruption, that dominates Uttar Pradesh, where voters appear to have shunned the sermons of self-styled Gandhian Anna Hazare.

An eunuch is threatening to break the BJP’s unbroken 22-year stint in Ayodhya Assembly seat, which goes to polls on Wednesday.

Apparently concerned over the scale of threat, the local BJP leadership