Healthcare firm HLL Lifecare on Saturday said its arm HLL Infra Tech Services has floated a tender seeking supply of over 1 lakh units of medical supplies towards COVID-19 testing on behalf of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). "The tender is seeking quotations for 40,000 units of viral transport media, 33,000 RNA extraction kits and 29,000 Combo RT-PCR COVID-19 tests," HLL Lifecare Ltd said in a statement. The tender is closing by May 10, the state-owned company added. "The viral transport media is used for transport of swabs collected for testing, RNA extraction kits are used to draw out RNA, which are single strand genetic materials of viruses, from samples which are then converted into reverse-transcribed into DNA while Combo RT-PCR tests has proven to be the 'gold standard' of COVID-19 diagnosis,"it said. HLL Lifecare is the procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir climbed to 836 on Saturday as 13 more people, including two nurses, tested positive for the disease, officials said. While 12 of the fresh cases are from the Kashmir Valley, one is from Jammu, they said. "Thirteen new COVID-19 cases were detected in the union territory on Saturday," the officials said. The total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir has now reached 836, they said. "Of these, 767 are in Kashmir, while 69 are in the Jammu region," they added. Among the fresh cases detected on Saturday, three are from Super Speciality Hospital, Shireen Bagh here -- including two staff nurses and an attendant of a patient from Shopian, said Dr Salim Khan, COVID-19 nodal officer at Government Medical College, Srinagar. According to the officials, there are 459 active cases in the union territory -- 446 in Kashmir and 13 in Jammu -- and 368 patients have recovered. A total of nine COVID-19 patients have died in Jammu and Kashmir.

A bulk of the COVID-19-related fact-checks in April were related to communal rumours, most of which were false allegations against Muslims of purposefully spreading the virus, claimed a report by BOOM Live. BOOM Live, a fact-checking platform that works with social media companies like Facebook, said its study analysed 178 fact-checks on COVID-19 related to misinformation/disinformation around the pandemic from January to May this year. "During April, a new trend was observed communally charged disinformation targeting Muslims became more frequent," the report said. By the end of April, a bulk of BOOM Live's fact-checks (34 unique fact checks) were on communal rumours, it claimed. The report further noted that after several members of the Tablighi Jamaat an Islamic missionary group tested positive, "Islamophobic rumours around them purposefully spreading the virus became viral on the internet". Other trends also witnessed in April were: spike in fake news related to politics, more .

The Prem Singh Tamang government in Sikkim has decided to reduce the salaries of the chief minister and ministers by 35 per cent for the next one year to mitigate the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy. As per decisions taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by the chief minister on Friday, utilisation of discretionary funds of the ministers have also been put on hold. The state government has decided to impose a ban on appointments under regular/work-charged/muster roll/adhoc/consolidated pay/ temporary basis for six months, a press release issued by the Information and Public Relations department said. The state government has also decided to impose a ban on replacement and purchase of new vehicles, computers and peripherals while the allocation under revenue expenditure in all departments will be curtailed by ten per cent. Among other things, there will be restrictions on advertisement or publication of notice inviting tender except ..

A 25-year-old man was thrashed and left unconscious with serious injuries on suspicious of being a coronavirus carrier' in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh. The incident took place on Friday evening outside a chemist shop in the Shivpuri locality of Aligarh. Police have booked six people in this regard. Abdul Samad fell unconscious after the accused attacked him, alleging that he was a coronavirus carrier', police said on Saturday. He was rushed to Malkhan Singh District Hospital by members of his family who arrived at the spot after people raised an alarm. According to the victim's father Laiqur Rehman, Samad was feeling dizzy after his Ramzan fast on Friday night. He had gone to a chemist shop in the neighbourhood to purchase some medicine where he was accosted by some people, who abused and beat him up without any provocation. Had not the family rushed him to the hospital, the injuries could have been fatal, the father claimed. Samad is now out of danger and has been referred to Jawaharlal .

A 21-year-old married woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging at her house in a village in Bundi district on Saturday, police said. The deceased woman was identified as Uma Jangid (21), wife of Dinesh Jangid and a resident of Nayagaon village of Kapren town in Bundi district, SHO of Kapren police station Budhiprakesh Nama said. The woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling fan of her room on Saturday early morning while other members of the family were asleep, the SHO said. Prima facie, it appears that the woman took the extreme step due to family reasons, he opined. However, no suicide note was recovered from her possession. Uma got married to Dinesh in 2017. Her parents who had reached here after the death said their daughter did not have any complaints about her in-laws, the policeman said, adding that the couple did not have any child. The body was handed over to her family members after a post-mortem was conducted later in the day, Nama said. A case was ..

With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8. No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths. Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated.

A 62-year-old man died due to coronavirus in Noida, becoming the second COVID-19 fatality in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, officials said on Saturday. The man, a resident of sector 66, died on Friday but the report of his COVID test came out as positive on Saturday, they said. "He expired yesterday (Friday) evening. The cause of the death was cardio-respiratory failure," District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said in a statement. Another person who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday is a 52-year-old man residing in sector 45's Khajoor Colony, the officer said. "Total 100 reports have been received in the last 24 hours of which two were positive and the rest negative for COVID-19. The cumulative positive cases of coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar are now 216," Dohare said. On the brighter side, two patients were discharged after recovering from the disease on Saturday, according to the statement. The two men, aged 23 and 40, were undergoing treatment at the ...

BJP leaders on Saturday reacted strongly to rumours about Home Minister Amit Shah's health, with party president J P Nadda terming these as "inhuman" comments which are "extremely condemnable". Several leaders of the ruling party took to Twitter to express their anguish at the rumours on social media after Shah put out a statement to assert that he was "totally healthy" and rejected speculation of his ill-health. They also wished Shah, Nadda's predecessor as party president, a long and healthy life. BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said spreading such rumours could be a "political ploy" of those who are rattled by Shah's working style and decisions. Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain claimed that people behind them are "enemies of the nation". In his tweet, Nadda said, "Making inhuman comments about the health of Home Minister Amit Shah is extremely condemnable. Spreading such misleading remarks about anyone's health shows the mindset of people doing so. I strongly condemn

The ruling JD(U) on Saturday slammed AAP for claiming that it bore the cost of ferrying migrant workers from Delhi to their home in Bihar, saying the party was speaking "half-truth" as the Arvind Kejriwal government has sought reimbursement of the payment. The Janata Dal (United) headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused the Aam Admi Party (AAP) of resorting to "cheap politics to gain popularity". The JD(U) also came down heavily on Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav for lapping up the issue to attack the NDA dispensation, asking him to stop the rhetoric and do something good for the people of Bihar. The AAP had on Friday claimed that the Kejriwal government paid for the migrant labourers travelling home after the Bihar government left them in the lurch. The train carrying 1,200 migrant labourers left for Muzaffarpur, Bihar today. The Arvind Kejriwal government will bear their full travel cost, Delhi minister Gopal Rai had tweeted on Friday. In a ...

A youth was arrested in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Muzaffarnagar's Kidwai Nagar on Saturday, police said. He was arrested after almost four months of the incident. Police said the girl was raped by the accused, identified as Nadeem, on January 16. He has been on the run since then, they said.

The testing capacity for COVID-19 has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The minister, who reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the northeastern states along with the measures taken for its containment and management, also stressed on the need to take concrete action to check the use of non-smoking tobacco and prohibiting spitting in public places which shall help in preventing the spread of the infection, according to a statement. During the high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Vardhan appreciated the dedication of all the states in combating COVID-19. "It is a huge relief and very encouraging to see green zones in most northeastern states. As of date, only Assam and Tripura have active COVID-19 cases. Other states are all in the green zone. ..

Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in greater strength on Saturday to curb free movement, a day after some people under quarantine were caught in a traffic jam in Bhadarwah of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, officials said. Out of the total 20 districts in the Union territory, Doda and Poonch in Jammu division are coronavirus free with no reported case till date. Doda district was recently declared a green zone by the administration and simultaneously some relaxations in lockdown restrictions were announced following which people started resuming their normal activities and vehicles also started plying in different areas, including Bhadarwah town. However, alarm bells started ringing when a group of labourers, who are under administrative quarantine after being brought back from outside Jammu and Kashmir this week, were caught in a massive traffic jam in the middle of the main market while being taken to a hospital in the hilly town for COVID-19 testing on Friday, the .

ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 6.91 per cent growth in March quarter net at Rs 1,251 crore on a consolidated basis, after setting aside over Rs 2,000 crore in provisions for potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a standalone basis, the second largest private sector bank's profit grew 26 per cent to Rs 1,221 crore as against Rs 969 crore in the year-ago period. For fiscal year 2019-20, it reported a 135 per cent jump in standalone profit to Rs 7,930.81 crore. From an asset quality perspective, the bank reported an improvement in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio to 5.53 per cent as against 6.70 per cent in the year-ago period and 5.95 per cent as of December 2019, despite over Rs 5,300 crore in fresh slippages during the reporting quarter. ICICI Bank President Sandeep Batra said it had slippages of Rs 4,300 crore in the preceding December quarter, and the additions on this front can be attributed to two accounts -- a West Asian healthcare company and a Singaporean oil

After hiking liquor price by 75 per cent early this week, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to reduce the number of retail liquor outlets, by a further 13 per cent, to 2,934 by this month end to curtail alcohol consumption and help people "move towards a better life." According to Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajat Bhargava,the government has also taken a number of steps to check illicit distillation of liquor and inter-state trade of non-duty paid liquor. Now, the state government has also decided to constitute an independent Special Enforcement Bureau to deal with illicit liquor, with special focus on districts bordering neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana. Retail liquor business in the state is currently run by the government, through the AP State Beverages Corporation Limited, and the number of outlets was brought down to 3,500 from 4,380 in August last year. With the latest decision, the number will drop further to ...

A number of entrepreneurs based in rural areas of the country have taken to manufacturing face masks amid dwindling demand for their regular produce in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an official said on Saturday. Around, 500 rural entrepreneurs have so far produced and sold 3.5 lakh such masks under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), he said. They produce around 2,500 masks per day for health professionals, policemen, media personnel and cleaning staff, the official said. In West Bengal, 38 entrepreneurs manufacture nearly 600 masks a day in blocks of Dinhata, Pathar Pratima and Manikchak in different districts of the state. The entrepreneurs, trained under SVEP -- under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) -- have sold 49,000 masks in the state till date, he said. Apart from West Bengal, the programme is active in the rural belts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Haryana, he added. The masks are made in hygienic ..

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday set up a high-level committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan to examine fiscal challenges facing the state owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest the way forward to improve its fiscal position. The committee, which will also consist of Finance Secretary S Krishnan as coordinator, will submit its report to the government within three months, according to a Government Order. The committee, with 21 members, would assess the overall immediate and medium term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors of the state's economy including the impact of lockdown, additional costs and implications due to social distancing and their precautionary measures. Also, it would assess the opportunities and threats in the short and medium term, suggest measures required to help the important sectors of the economy to overcome the impact of the virus pandemic. Apart from identifying specific reform measures to ..

The National School of Drama (NSD) is planning to take theatrical knowledge and experience to "every nook and corner" of the country" through an online series of lectures, demonstrations, master classes and hands-on training sessions. The webinar series, starting from Sunday, will offer one of a kind experience to those "who are not in physical contact with the regular theatre practice" given to the nation-wide lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis, Suresh Sharma, Director In charge, NSD announced on Saturday. "Due to this ongoing pandemic we feel that the artists are feeling very abandoned as they are not getting the chance to perform. Since we all know the act of theatre is all about a working together in a group, but due the ongoing situation this has become impossible. "National School of Drama has initiated an online platform where the people who are sitting at home can connect with us and utilize their time to grab the knowledge. This not only will help to enhance their skills ...

Two fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Saturday, both being foreign returnees who reached the state from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on May 7 and were among the expatriates airlifted by the Centre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indians abroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said with the two new patients, the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 505 and there are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, has been cured today.The two new cases are now under treatment in Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi- Kochi andDubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively," Vijayan told reporters. "There are 23,930 people under observation in the state out of which 334 are in isolation wards of various hospitals," he said. Out of the total 505 infected, Kerala has till now cured 485,Vijayan added. The state has reported three deaths.

Four policemen, including an assistant sub inspector, were injured when a group of men attacked them in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan on Friday night. The incident occurred in Chhoti Sadri area near the house of the state Cooperative Minister Udai Lal Anjana with the BJP alleging that Anjana too slapped a policeman, a charge denied by the minister. A former up-sarpanch Kanhaiya Lal had a spat with some youths in Kesunda village over some petty issue. After some time, the youths caught Kanhaiya Lal and thrashed him, police said. On information, a team of four policemen, led by ASI Shishupal Singh, rushed to the spot where the members from Kanhaiya Lal hit them. The policemen got injured. The ASI has received critical injuries, Chhoti Sadri police station's SHO Ravindra Pratap Singh said. Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday alleging that the minister, Udai Lal Anjana slapped a police constable after which the mob present .

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh warned Pakistan on Saturday against its "persistent attempts" to spread narco-terrorism in India, asserting that the police force was "keeping a close watch" on anti-national activities across the border even during a crisis. Our eyes are open to what Pakistan is doing, Singh said, hours after the NIA arrested a "notorious narco-terrorist" who acted as a conduit for Pakistan-based terror groups. The central agency said in a statement that it, along with the Punjab and Haryana police, arrested Ranjit Singh alias Cheeta, a resident of Amritsar, from Haryana. It said investigation in a drug case against Singh showed Pakistan-based outfits were using narcotic trade to generate funds for terror activities in India. Assuring people that no matter how much the force has been busy with Covid duties, the Punjab chief minister said, the police was keeping a watch on the borders. "Pakistan is not letting up on its attempts to push drugs, weapons and drug ...

Activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) resumed in Jammu division on Saturday after an almost two-month suspension owing to the coronavirus-forced lockdown, officials said. The decision to resume works under MGNREGA was taken following a Home Affairs order allowing select additional activities in rural areas outside containment zones to mitigate the economic hardships being faced by people due to curbs, a spokesperson said. Work has resumed on 5,800 projects in all the 10 districts of Jammu division. "More than 25,000 job card holders have been engaged in these works. The director of Rural Development Department RDD has instructed the officers concerned to complete all works under MGNREGA, while ensuring that guidelines for curbing COVID-19 spread are followed," the spokesperson said. While undertaking the works under the flagship scheme, the department is ensuring that rural infrastructure gets augmented through restoration of ...

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday lashed out at the Rajasthan government, saying it gave politics precedence over people's health and failed to contain the coronavirus spread. The Jodhpur MP said asked the state Congress government to introspect over deficiencies in dealing with the situation in his constituency, which is also the hometown of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. "Had there been no deficiencies, the government would not have failed in tackling coronavirus in Jaipur and Jodhpur, said Shekhawat. He alleged that the state government gave priority to politics over people's health' due to which the condition worsened' in the state, especially Jodhpur. In a statement, Shekhawat also accused Gehlot of not taking serious steps to contain coronavirus cases, saying the chief minister was indulging in politics of appeasement. Referring to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's claim that the Centre did not release funds for the state, Shekhawat said adequate budget ...

A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a girl on multiple occasions, recording the act and using it to blackmail her in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district, police said. The incident took place in a village under the Khanpur Police Station limits and the arrest was made on Friday, they said. The 17-year-old girl and her father had approached the Jhawalar SP with their complaint on Thursday, following which a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, DSP and Circle Officer Bhanwar Singh Hada, who is investigating the case, said. The accused, identified as Saddam Hussain Pinjara, was on Saturday produced before a Jhalawar court which sent him to two days' police remand. In her complaint, the minor alleged that the accused, who is her neighbour, took her to an isolated place around three months ago and raped her at knifepoint and also clicked her pictures and recorded the

Five people were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after recovering from the novel coronavirus infection, health officials said. Those discharged include two women and a five-year-old boy, an official informed. So far 43 people have been discharged while the number of active cases in the state is 16, he added. "Two women and a boy from Kabirdham, two men from Durg and Surajpur were discharged after two consecutive tests were negative for the infection. They will be kept in a quarantine centre as a precaution before they are allowed to go home," a public relations officer of AIIMS Raipur told PTI. Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 59; New cases nil; Deaths nil; Discharged 43; Active cases 16; People tested so far 23,629.

The 23-year-old daughter of a policeman who died of the novel coronavirus infection last month in Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as sub-inspector in the force by the state government, said an official on Saturday. The 59-year-old policeman, in charge of Neelganga police station in Ujjain district, died in an Indore hospital on April 21 after getting infected while performing his duty in a containment area, the official said. "Minister for Home and Health Narottam Mishra spoke to the 23-year-old woman on Saturday over phone and told her about the appointment as PSI as announced by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She is likely to join duty next week," a state public relations department official said.

A man was arrested in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday for allegedly raping a nine-year-old girl, police said. Indar Singh Tanwar (23) lured the girl by offering her Rs 100 when she was on her way to the fields and allegedly raped her behind a tree on Friday, said a police officer. Kotwali police station in-charge D P Lohia said the girl told her family members about the incident after returning home, and a complaint was filed. Tanwar was arrested under IPC section 376 (rape) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act and further probe was on, he said.

The Karnataka government has clarified that migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons can hire and use buses provided by state-run road transport corporations on payment basis for travel to other states with relevant permissions. Inter-State travel of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourist, students and other persons stranded in different states due to lockdown were recently permitted to travel through notified entry and exit points of Karnataka by the government. The Shramik special train services too have been ferrying migrant labourers stranded in the state to destinations like Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh among others. In a circular, Revenue (Disaster Management) Principal Secretary T K Anil Kumar said similar facility on payment basis be made available by state run road transport corporations- KSRTC/NWKRTC/NEKRTC/ BMTC to transport workers to industries permitted under the issued guidelines.

Saudi Arabia plans to build Neom, a futuristic megacity in the middle of the desert. But residents resisting evictions and a historic collapse in oil prices have raised new questions about the project.

Wonder Land: The coronavirus lockdown model is about to collapse beneath its own weight, undermined by politics, confusion about the virus itself, and the basics of human nature. Images: AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly

The South Korean company behind the hit video "Baby Shark" is hoping to expand its empire with films and merchandise while pursuing the next viral sensation. Its strategy aims to beat competitors in an increasingly crowded space for children’s attention. Image: Pinkfong

Covid-19 is commonly compared to the regular seasonal flu, but one has proven to be more dangerous than the other. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains why the coronavirus is treated more seriously than the flu. Photo: Zuma Press

Ratings agency Crisil today said the upcoming payment banks (PBs) will largely focus on the underbanked areas like the East, Northeast and Central regions, and the existing lenders should not worry about them. "We do not expect them to ...

A wave of new technologies is giving people like Max Plansky, who are unable to speak due to a debilitating condition, a more personal synthetic voice. Photo/Video: Denise Blostein/The Wall Street Journal

Dipa Karmakar, the first female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, will be performing one of the sport's most dangerous and difficult moves in Brazil in August. Photo: Karan Deep Singh/The Wall Street Journal

At the world's biggest ship-recycling yard at Alang, India, life is becoming harder as fewer ships arrive. Here's why. Photo: Karan Deep Singh/The Wall Street Journal

Clif Bar & Co. is among only 5% of U.S. employers that offer a child care center on-site or near its offices. Kate Torgersen, an 18-year employee, explains how bringing her three children to the company's "Base Camp" child care center has benefited her as a working mother. Photo: Tim Hussin for The Wall Street Journal

With more and more people taking flight each year, there’s a lot that can go wrong. WSJ’s Scott McCartney tallies the data for a definitive look at which airlines performed best and worst in 2019 in key categories like on-time departures, baggage handling and flight cancellations. Illustration: Ivan Canu

The poor have filled up marshland, resurfaced uneven land, all with their own labour, and built their homes. "People should get the right to shelter," says Kadvi Wagri, another one of the growing stream of homeless. These voices should not be silenced, says Kalpana Sharma.

Aiming to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, the Ministry of Environment and Forests published a 'good practices in regulation' note earlier this year. Sunita Dubey finds that instead, the charter may further weaken environmental protection.

Governments in India have been using key provisions in environmental regulations to create and protect 'Ecologically Sensitive Areas'. Recently, the Supreme Court also pressed a state government on an ESA commitment. Kanchi Kohli reports on the practice and challenges.

The National Environmental Appellate Authority came into being in 1997 for citizens concerned with environmental impact to challenge central government clearances. But the Law Commission of India pointed out not long ago that this forum of final appeals "had very little work". Kanchi Kohli discovers more.

Extensive air pollution over Asia has drawn considerable attention from the global atmospheric science community. In India, as in other Asian countries, the government as well as scientists are wary of motivated criticism, but still have much to do to put the environment in order, writes Darryl D'Monte.

Kerala’s Left-dominated 141-member legislative assembly adopted a resolution on 11 July urging New Delhi to withdraw the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006. The resolution says the notification is “against the interest of Kerala State, nature, environment and people.” M Suchitra reports.

The contrast between the stand taken by India at Copenhagen and at the earlier UN Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 couldn't have been starker, writes Darryl D'Monte.

Eco-pioneer Mohammed Dilawar’s nest boxes, specially designed to bring back sparrows and other birds into urban areas, are a hit among bird-lovers in many Indian metros and of course, the target group – the birds – themselves, writes Savita Hiremath.

With the arrival of a new Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust, the redevelopment of port land in Mumbai is  being discussed again and like the earlier discussions this one too ignores the real needs of the city and its citizens. Darryl D’Monte elaborates.

An innovative program of education for young children achieves the twin objectives of encouraging more families to send their girls to school, as well as giving the teachers a greater sense of autonomy over their own lives. Malvika Kaul reports on the Mother-Teacher Programme.

Despite all that she has endured, Neelam Katara remains a picture of stoic determination and motherly affection. Vasudha Mehta visits her to learn what her son's murder and the subsequent trial have taught her about the justice system.

The lung dust that hundreds of thousands of mineworkers in Rajasthan are exposed to takes a severe toll on their health and lives. The rules meant to protect them, however, have yet to be dusted off the shelves. Deepak Malik recounts the history of the mineworkers' plight.