The UPA government had an ambition of connecting all gram panchayats with optical fibre. On October 25, 2011, it approved setting up of the national optical fiber network (NOFN) to provide connectivity to all 2,50,000 gram panchayats in the
A day after assuming charge as the new finance minister on May 26, Arun Jaitley had an interesting visitor in his North Block office – Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan. As the meeting went on for 50 minutes behind closed doors,
During his peak, pole vaulter Sergei Bubka was his own competition. Every now and then he would increase the height ever so slightly. But come world championships or Olympics he would flex his pole definitely and spring to alien heights. Hamburg w
Almost 12 years after construction began on the 126 km long Katra-Banihal section of the rail link to Kashmir, a bench of the High Court of Delhi has ordered the railway board to conduct a review of the alignment by setting up a committee of exper
Information and communication technology (ICT) has impacted billons of people in the shortest possible time. Appreciating its enormous potential, the central and state governments in India are increasingly using ICT in all aspects of governance; a
It is not the best of times to own and run a business in India. The business news pages will tell you that investment sentiments have never been more discouraging. That corporate honchos are steering clear of risks, or significant expansion of ope
If the right to education (RTE) is the book, the story is indeed bleak still. Here`s the writing on the blackboard: even nearly four years since RTE`s implementation, there is a shortage of more than 5 lakh teachers across the country. Wo
Located in Tiruchirapalli (or Tiruchi or Trichy) district of Tamil Nadu is Arivalayam, or temple of knowledge in Tamil, a school for differently-abled children and a hope for the parents in making them realise that having special children is defin
Even on the verge of becoming the 29th state of the country, Telangana appears to be a region still in the agitational hangover. The region, which will formally come into existence as a new state on June 2, went into a complete shutdown on Thursda
Some events remain firmly etched in our collective memory. Nelson Mandela’s oath-taking ceremony in 1994 was an awe-inspiring event that marked the end of apartheid. The democratic verdict in South Africa was an assurance that the world was
Spending money can often be as difficult as earning it. Ask Indian companies – specifically, when it comes to spending on corporate social responsibility-related activities. The complaint of several top-notch companies, now th
Omkar Saroj is the best example of technology making life better. Standing at the window at the mamlatdaar’s office in Silvassa, the young man says, “I am here to collect a domicile certificate. Earlier it would take me more than a mon
Tweets these days often indicate which way the wind is blowing long before it becomes an official policy. The warm manner in which India’s prime minister-designate Narendra Modi responded to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s congratul
It had all the makings of a caste war. Mobs hurling stones and firing guns, one death, many injuries, properties damaged, and a school razed to the ground. Then tempers cooled and the police began to investigate. Turns out it is just another real
The centre-state relations in India have always been a topic of debate: whether it is the FDI in retail, Goods and Services Tax, Teesta treaty with Bangladesh or the creation of the National Centre for Counter Terrorism, the states have often blam
Many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and MLAs have shown their resentment over Kiran Bedi’s ambition to become the party`s chief ministerial candidate – whenever elections to the assembly is held. A corporator, who did not
Our democracy is here to stay. We might run into troubled waters from time to time, and even suffer major setbacks, but democracy in the country has struck deep roots and is indestructible. However, I am not saying that we must become complacent a
The National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have written a letter to the PM designate, Narendra Modi, bringing to his notice the disturbing fact that the newly formed 16th Lok Sabha has a sizeable number of MPs (
In December 2004, the department of biotechnology under the ministry of science and technology, finalised the name of five scientists for promotion. The names were finalised based on interviews and after assessment of the annual confidential repor
On a day former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that they are ready for fresh elections to the state assembly, and was later sent to judicial custody for refusing to furnish bail bond in a defamation case filed by BJP’s Nagpur MP N
