BHUBANESWAR: In what can be seen as a missive to embarrass Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the tribal issue, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday alleged that a large number of ‘adivasis’ are in jail in Odisha, for no reason whatsoever, and they should be freed at the earliest.

In a bid to provide some relief to the citizens burdened by rise in prices of food items, the city government plans to soon revive a scheme under which subsidised wheat flour will be sold at over 400 outlets at around `14 per kg.

The decision to revive the scheme came after Union minister of state for food and civil supplies K.V. Thomas at a meeting with chief minister Sheila Dikshit agreed to her request to provide additional quota of subsidised wheat to Delhi.

For combating the menace of child labour, Punjab Labour and Human Resource Department has approved a 5-year project 'Combating worst form of child labour'; it is being implemented in four districts of the province (Jhang, Layyah, Jehlum and Chakwal). Punjab Labour and Human Resource Secretary Hassan Iqbal disclosed this during a meeting with the District Co-ordination Officers (DCOs) of the respective districts here on Tuesday, disclosed an official.
He said the Punjab government is focused and committed to eradicate the child labour from the province.

Peshawar—To ensure access to clean drinking water to the communities of Tijri and Dawr Jan Khan Korrona, the Political administration of FR DI Khan has completed water supply systems that will provide 3,500 individuals with water at their doorsteps. Due to shortage of water, the people of the area had been facing great hardship in gaining access to clean drinking water. The elders of the Tijri and DawrJan Khan Korrona requested the Political administration to provide clean drinking water to their area.

Bhubaneswar: School and mass education minister Pratap Jena on Tuesday said that special strategies and plan of action were being taken up to implement the Right to Education Campaign-2012 and it was decided to finalise the District Plan for the RTE campaign by June 5. Briefing newsmen here, Jena said that core committees would be formed in all district project offices and the first meeting as to how to carry out the campaign to create awareness to mobilise students to schools would be held by June 5 and by this time.

BHUBANESWAR: The Maoist-infested Laxmipur block in Koraput district which hogged the headlines for the wrong reason was back in the news on Tuesday. In a move that will help resolve the current crisis over land dispute, nearly 500 landless tribal families were given pattas under the land allocation programme, initiated by the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme (OTELP).

The seers congregated at the Ganga Mukti Mahasammelan at Beniabagh Park on Monday evening and displayed their determination to continue their struggle until the flow of water in river Ganga is maintained undisrupted and the holy river becomes free from pollution. Apart from seers, thousands of locals and heads of other religious groups also arrived to extend their support to the ongoing stir for protecting river Ganga.

Anti-nuclear demonstrators gathered on Sunday evening at Dadar’s Chaityabhoomi along with National Award-winning filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, activist Dr Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina, and members of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, Konkan Vinashakari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti, and Konkan Bachao Andolan Priyar Dravidar Kazhagam. They were protesting against the controversial nuclear reactor project in Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu.

Panicked people rushed into the streets when a powerful earthquake shook northern Italy early on Sunday, killing three people and injuring at least 50, emergency services said.

The 5.9-magnitude quake struck around 02:00 GMT and was felt throughout the northeast of the peninsula, from the Emilia-Romagna region to Venice, with its epicentre at Finale Emilia, 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of Bologna.

It took place at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) and lasted around 20 seconds, followed by several aftershocks.

New Delhi, 18 MAY: Finding faults with the MGNREGA scheme, a Parliamentary Panel has said that there was confusion over its definition of the term 'households' which was being twisted to suit male heads of families which should be corrected. In its report, the Committee on empowerment of Women in Rural areas said that due to this confusion the scheme was not reaching its targeted beneficiaries.