Newswallah, Bharat Edition, from the New York Times (today). This news bulletin has not been blocked.
-bhuban March 31, 2012, 6:42 AM Newswallah: Bharat Edition By THE NEW YORK TIMES Jammu and Kashmir: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of separatist groups in Kashmir, is “supported and controlled” by Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), an American attorney said before a U.S. district court in Alexandria, Virginia, Kashmir Live reports. This claim was made on Friday by the attorney ahead of the scheduled sentencing of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, an American citizen, charged with illegally working for the ISI and promoting the cause of self-determination in Kashmir (Hindustan Times). Tripura: The state has been the most successful implementer of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme that guarantees 100 days of work annually to adult members from rural households, Nagaland Post reports. Against a target of 100 days, Tripura managed to provide 72 days of work; Andhra Pradesh came in second with 48 days. However, the state lagged in women’s employment under the scheme. The newspaper reports that “about 38.36 percent got employment over the year against the national average of 49.4 percent.” West Bengal: The state’s mass education and library services minister, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, has restricted the purchase of newspapers that state libraries are allowed to purchase, to 13 publications. The government announced that this decision was taken to prevent government expenditure on dailies published by political parties and to promote local and small newspapers with low circulation. “Not all newspapers on the list would like to be characterized as either “small” or “low circulation,” The Telegraph reports. (Disclaimer: The Telegraph is not on the list of 13 state-approved publications.) Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav set a precedent for his party colleagues by declaring his assets on the state government Web site. The 38-year-old chief minister owns assets worth about $950,000 and his liabilities are estimated at about $30,000. (The Hindu) Rajasthan: The World Bank has approved $109 million in funding aimed to enhance agricultural productivity in the state (First Post). The money will go towards the Rajasthan Agricultural Competitiveness Project’s efforts to create a “sustainable and efficient use” of water resource in the desert state. The project on completion will benefit approximately 155,000 farmers, mainly those with small land holdings in Rajasthan (Indian Express). Gujarat: Over the course of the past year the Special Operations Group, an intelligence agency, has confiscated fake Indian currency worth nearly $200,000 from the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat (Daily Bhaskar). Though they have been unable to stop the flow of fake currency in the city, Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad chief has alleged that the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a terrorist faction operating in South Asia, is responsible for channeling the fake currency into Gujarat from Bangladesh. Andhra Pradesh: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Thursday recommended an overhaul of the government policy for land allotments in the state in order to reduce the discretionary powers of officials. (The New Indian Express) _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
