New Delhi's citizen crusaders for the state's Right to Information law are now taking their methods and inspiration to other localities, reports Varupi Jain.

As the refugee crisis deepens in Syria, visuals of millions of people hoping to catch a train to a better life fill the media space. Shalini Bhutani reflects on the state of refugee policies in the South Asian region while remembering her own father’s experience weeks before the India-Pakistan partition.

Months before the recent police firings during tribal protests in Kalinganagar, Orissa, the state government and international development agencies had finalised a draft for a comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation for project-affected people. Manipadma Jena reports that the policy is likely to come into force in March 2006.

The army may have delivered on its mandate of ensuring the return of an environment more conducive to law and order since more than a decade, in Kashmir. But the recent spate of suicides and fratricides within are showing that the army is under stress, a slide that the political side can and must prevent, says Firdaus Ahmed.

They forage the city, collecting and sorting often hazardous waste when the city sleeps and by day they are gone. Most of them are women and we have no long-term policy in place that looks at their welfare or health, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Focussed monitoring of the implementation of the Supreme Court's May 2003 directives on the Right-to-food litigation is beginning to pay off, say the campaigners.

Homeless, vulnerable and deprived of any form of social security, street dwellers often provide critical services, helping to sustain themselves and the city. Pushpa Achanta meets some of them in Bengaluru to know more about their existence.

Three million forest dwellers in Odisha are estimated to have been displaced since independence by various industrial and hydro-projects, among which the Upper Indiravati Hydro Project is one. Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of three tribal settlements uprooted by it.

Children Affected by HIV/AIDS are facing sustained discrimination and exploitation, finds a new Human Rights Watch report.

A new book tracks down the women who stripped naked 12 years ago to protest against rape and rights abuses under AFSPA. Banamallika Choudhury reviews Mothers of Manipur.

Rural public health care is choked nationwide for a number of reasons. To name two, provisioning of services is very top heavy and many major programmes continue to be conceived and run uncoordinatedly. But Abhijit Das finds promising prospects in the formation of the National Rural Health Mission.

The Aravind Eye Hospitals in south India have contributed signficantly to preventing debilitating blindness. Aravind was recently awarded the $1 million Gates Award. It all began with late Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy's dream. Ramesh Menon tracks down the pioneer.

Did you know a cell phone in a moving car emits significantly greater radiation, half of which could be absorbed by the brain while talking? A renowned epidemiologist from the US warns users of this and other cell-phone related hazards in the course of her recent talks in India. Darryl D’Monte reports.

The Government of Karnataka's Working Group on Decentralization discusses mechanisms for democratizing decision making in Panchayats. This is the third in a series of articles adapted from the Working Group's 2002 report.

All the steel and glass towers of the glitzy facade of Bangalore cannot hide its seamy underbelly where life is pieced together under plastic tents, with fear and want as constant companions. The Bangalore Social Forum that came into existence on Independence Day believes that “another Bangalore is possible," writes Kathyayini Chamaraj.

The proposed 1000 MW coal-fired power plant at Chamalapura, Mysore, to be located on agricultural land and within 30 kilometres of the Nagarhole and Bandipur national parks, evoked strong protests last year. Recent announcements indicate that the government is going slow. Nandini Chami has more.

In the name of good governance, decision-making powers in Karnataka are being given to parastatal organizations and non-elected task forces. Kathyayini Chamaraj asks for a re-look at outsourcing government.

Karnataka's plan to harvest power from the Gundia river that runs through the Hassan and Dakshin Kannada districts has been criticised by environmentalists, farmers and the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. Bhanu Sridharan investigates.

How much should domestic workers be paid for various kinds of labour? In Pune, workers decided they must have some say in the answer. Rasika Dhavse reports.

Jaideep Hardikar reports on the precarious monsoon situation at the Narmada valley.

Property prices have gone up over the decades, but Mumbai leases land to private interests at rates as low as Rs.7 per sq.m. In the last three years alone, revenue authorities have on average lost close to Rs.48 crores, estimates Shailesh Gandhi.

At least sixteen committees and panels – from the National Farmers Commission led by Professor M S Swaminathan to the Planning Commission's fact-finding-mission led by bureaucrat Adarsh Misra – came this year to Vidarbha, apparently peeved by and concerned over the suicide crisis. Nothing has come of all this yet, notes Jaideep Hardikar.

In Maharashtra, robber baron politics exists on a scale many other states cannot dream of. Here, one finds crony capitalism at its worst; two or three parasitical and incestuous lobbies can get anything they want done. There is much the state can do differently, but then it will be not be the Maharashtra of our times, writes P Sainath.

Both the Maharashtra Chief Minister's and the Prime Minister's relief packages for Vidarbha included for distribution of thousands of cows to the region's beleagured farmers. Jaideep Hardikar finds out that the measure has hurt, not helped.

Vidarbha farmers are shifting to soybean and oilseeds as substitute, harangued by dipping cotton prices, highly volatile markets and withdrawal of government support. Jaideep Hardikar reports on the trend, the risks and the other alternatives for the farmers.

The Assam health department on Thursday launched a drive in every village to check if people were suffering from viral infections like Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Influenza-Like Illness (ILI). Health teams moved from house to house to conduct tests on villagers.

Most of the pharmacies are out of stock for masks and sanitizers at this time.

Amit Shah holds review meeting with DGs, expresses concern over rising Covid-19 cases in CAPF

Lockdown 3.0: With no income, Rajastani PoP statue artisan along with family face crisis in Bhubneswar

Firemen spray disinfectant inside Odisha State Secretariat to prevent spread of Covid-19

Bloodbath on Dalal Street after Yes Bank crisis: Sensex down, Nifty below 11K

COVID-19 crisis: Sensex slides 469 points to close at 30,690; Nifty down 118 points at 8,990

As lockdown eased and alcohol vends opened up, long denied tipplers across India lined up to get their fix. But amid all the serpentine lines, one picture drew special mention: a queue of women in...

First look: Sony showcases Vision S concept EV at CES 2020

The Bombay high court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to take an appropriate decision on sharing the transport costs of migrant workers returning homes.

After Belgians were asked to eat more fried potatoes, dairy producers are now urging the French to consume more cheese.

NASA has also shared images, showing the presence of Noctiluca on the coast of the Arabian Sea.

Trump wore safety goggles during the factory tour but did not wear a mask despite sign that read: 'Attention: Face Mask Required in this Area. Thank You!'

Imrana Saifi, a resident of North Delhi, has been visiting religious places of worship in the area every day along with a sanitiser tank to disinfect the buildings.

With a 'heavy heart', Billooji's open letter on the recent migrant crisis is actually a 2-minute long video.

The Energy Information Administration expects jet fuel use to fall 34% in the second quarter. In addition, the agency expects gasoline use to drop by 25% from April to June.

Reckitt Benckiser recorded a 13.3% rise in first quarter like-for-like sales, that was its best performance since the company was formed in 1999.

Indian banks are already grappling with 9.35 lakh crore rupees ($123 billion) of soured loans, which was equivalent to about 9.1% of their total assets at the end of September 2019.

After a highly volatile session, the 30-share BSE index settled at 31,715.35, plunging 2,002.27 points, or 5.94 per cent.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell as much as 2.1 per cent to $24.05 a barrel and were down 14 cents at $24.41 a barrel at 0201 GMT. WTI has snapped a five-day winning streak.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday said the negative outlook on India's rating reflects increasing risks that GDP growth will remain significantly lower than in the past and partly hints at weaker policy effectiveness to address economic and institutional issues.

BWF chief Thomas Lund said the restrictions on international travel due to coronavirus has complicated the picture for badminton to resume.