The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which is responsible for monitoring of the right to education (RTE) Act, has analysed data of 320 districts across the country to see where states stand after three years’ of th
When Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister and chief opposition leader rolled into one, launched her panchayat election campaign nearly four months ago, she chose Hutmora in Purulia, one of the hottest and most backward districts of the
State-owned NTPC’s first solar power plant commenced operations at its Dadri unit on Saturday. The five MW solar plant is estimated to generate 7.26 million units of power annually. The plant built-up at a cost of Rs 48.59 crore and
The resignation of Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar following allegations of domestic violence had its echo in the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday where opposition LDF demanded that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy should step down on moral grounds.
It is obvious that the folks at $57-billion Swiss pharma major Novartis are angry. Being denied a patent despite Glivec being a life-saving, breakthrough drug for certain forms of cancer like chronic myeloid leukaemia, in nearly 40 countries, albe
Maharashtra is facing one of the worst droughts this year. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar as well as chief minister Prithviraj Chavan have said that this year’s drought is worse than the one in 1972, which was termed as a ‘fam
Differences between rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and finance minister P Chidambaram are far from over. In the latest, after Chidambaram got all-round praise for his innovative thinking in announcing a women’s bank in his budget,
While BJP’s opposition to make the national investigating agency’s (NIA) director-general SC Sinha a member of the national human rights commission (NHRC) post retirement is well known, it now emerges that senior opposition leaders Aru
Swiss pharma major Novartis AG Monday lost a seven-year long legal battle for getting its blood cancer drug Glivec patented in India and to restrain Indian companies from manufacturing generic drugs, with the Supreme Court rejecting the multinatio
When Ram Kishan nonchalantly shows his deeply calloused hands his empty eyes reveal nothing. There is no longing there. No anger. No hate. No sadness. No hope. There is not even a fleeting glimpse of a moist flicker. There are just two haunting, b
Unrecognised private schools in the national capital seem to have finally caught a break from the stringent norms on space that are a part of enforcing the right to education (RTE). Recognition from any municipal, state or central educatio
Shale gas has been a game changer for the US ever since fracking (see explanation below) through innovative horizontal drilling was introduced there a decade ago. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates, the US produc
Being minister for information and broadcasting of a `weak` government isn`t easy. Even party colleagues regularly taunted Ambika Soni, the immediate past minister, of being too nice (read, too weak) whenever the news channels went hammer and tong
The Income Tax department in India has served a Rs 2,000 crore demand notice on Finnish mobile firm maker Nokia for alleged evasion of taxes in its business transactions in the country. The department had on March 21 asked the firm to subm
Conceding to the demands of non-Congress Chief Ministers, the Centre has diluted the much touted NCTC with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde exuding confidence that the anti-terror hub would see the light of the day during the Chief Ministers` conf
Amid a nation-wide controversy, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has withdrawn changes suggested by it in civil services mains examination, dropping mandatory English language paper requirement. UPSC, which conducts the prestigio
Notwithstanding actor Sanjay Dutt`s statement that he would not apply for mercy, Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Justice (retd) Markandey Katju on Wednesday said that he would still go ahead and seek pardon for Dutt and 1993 Mumbai blasts ca
Anti-corruption crusader and social activist Anna Hazare will address eight public rallies in Punjab during his five-day `Janatantra Yatra` beginning March 30 from Amritsar. Gurdeep Singh, a spokesperson of the Janatantra Morcha said on We
The customs, union excise duties and service tax together gross the highest revenue for the country. According to the budget estimates, this figure is expected to be around Rs 5,05,004 crore in the financial year 2012-13. Despite excise alone cont
