The number of people dying from the coronavirus in Ohio's nursing homes has continued to increase at an alarming pace. Close to 500 residents of long-term care centers have died of COVID-19 in the past three weeks, according to data released by the state this week. That's nearly double the total reported for the previous two weeks. The increase in deaths could be attributed to a significant jump or a backlog of cases being added over the past week, said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department. Since mid-April, more than 4,300 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the virus. The numbers don't tell the entire story of how the virus has devastated nursing homes during the pandemic because the Ohio Department of Health has only released the totals for just the past three weeks. Before that, the state didn't require local health departments to report nursing home deaths linked to the virus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic. In neighboring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thousands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months. Putin on Saturday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honoring the valor and suffering of the Soviet army during the war. Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday and this year's observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus. The only vestige of the conventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and .

A shootout erupted on Saturday at a protest in western Afghanistan by residents demanding economic assistance, leading to the deaths of at least six people, including a local reporter and two police officers, officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said the protesters had gathered outside the governor's office in Feroz Koh, the capital of the western Ghor province. They were demanding relief after weeks of restrictions aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic. He said some people at the protest opened fire at police, igniting a gun battle that killed the six people and wounded another 19, including nine police. The ministry has launched an investigation and plans to send a delegation to the province. Afghanistan was already mired in poverty before the onset of the pandemic, which has infected nearly 3,800 people in the country and killed at least 109. Many Afghans rely on day labour, which has dried up because of the closure of nonessential businesses.

San Diego Comic-Con has announced that it will be presenting an at-home version of its annual event this year. The convention's official Twitter handle shared the news. "Coming soon Free parking, comfy chairs, personalised snacks, no lines, pets welcome, badges for all, and a front-row seat to Comic-Con at Home, the tweet read. Then news comes less than a month after it was revealed that, for the first time in the event's history, Comic-Con would be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event was scheduled to happen from July 23 to 26. No dates for the online at-home event have been announced yet.

The Drug Controller of India has allowed clinical trial of Favipiravir medicine, developed indigenously a CSIR laboratory, on coronavirus patients, Director General Shekhar Mande said on Friday. He said the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad has developed the technology to make the drug Favipiravir. The technology has been transferred to a private company, IICT Director S Chandrashekar said. The company will now tie up with hospitals for clinical trials so that the drug could be tested on patients suffering from COVID-19. Approval from patients will be necessary as per the protocols, he said. Mande said Favipiravir is used in countries such as China and Japan to treat influenza. Whenever, a virus enters a cell, it tries to create multiple replicas. Favipiravir stops the replication process, he explained. The CSIR has already tied up with Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd to evaluate Mycobacterium W (Mw) for faster recovery of hospitalised COVID-19 patients and minimise

Two police officers and a constable were injured after a 27-year-old man attacked them with a chopper in south Mumbai early today, police said. Karan Pradip Nayar, resident of Silver Oaks estate near Breach Candy, attacked the policemen who were on routine 'nakabandi' duty at 1.30 am, senior police inspector of Marine Drive police station Mrityunjay Hiremath told PTI. The policemen, all deployed at the Marine Drive police station, received injuries on their shoulders and hands and were taken to the state government-run JJ hospital, he said. "When our policemen saw the man walking with a large chopper near the Pransukhlal Mafatlal Hindu Swimming Bath and Boat Club, they tried to stop him. He ran away and they chased him. When they tried to catch him, he attacked them with the chopper," Hiremath said. Nayar, an architecture graduate, has been arrested, the police officer said, adding a case has been filed against him under various sections of the IPC, including 307 ...

Restrictions continued in Kashmir on Saturday in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday, but the curbs were relaxed in some areas of the valley where the situation remained peaceful, officials said. Restrictions on the movement and assembly of people continued in the valley for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday following Naikoo's killing in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Wednesday, the officials said. They, however, said the curbs were relaxed in some areas of the valley where the situation remained peaceful. Some relaxations in terms of allowing movement of people and opening of shops in certain areas have been allowed, they added. Deployment of security forces continued in vulnerable areas to maintain law and order, the officials said. While the government has been strictly enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown, restrictions were imposed across the valley on Wednesday the day Naikoo and his aide were killed

Just a day before he was killed in the train accident in Aurangabad, 28-year-old Brajesh Singh had informed his father that he would be reaching their village by a special train soon. For Gajraj Singh, a resident of Antoli village in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, that phone call was the last conversation he had with his sons Brajesh and Shivdayal (25). Bodies of the two brothers, along with those of 14 other labourers, would be reaching their village on Saturday. At least 16 labourers, who were travelling to their home state Madhya Pradesh on foot, were mowed down by a goods train while they were sleeping on tracks near Karmad station in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district early morning on Friday. "Only a day before the mishap, my sons informed me that they had left on foot to board a train from Maharashtra and will reach Shahdol soon. They told me that they would sit in the train on Friday. But instead of my sons, the news of their death has reached me," said an ...

BJP corporators in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have refused to contribute to the COVID-19 relief fund, citing lack of transparency in the affairs of the civic body in Maharashtra's Thane city. Corporators from other parties have contributed Rs 5 lakh to the fund, following an appeal from Mayor Naresh Mhaske. In a letter to the Mayor, BJP leader Sanjay Waghule alleged that there was no transparency in the civic body's COVID-19 relief activities, which is why party corporators would not make any contribution to the TMC's COVID-19 fund. He further claimed that BJP corporators were not invited to the meeting called by Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde to discuss a 1,000-bed COVID-19 treatment facility. Meanwhile, the Mayor in a written communication pointed out that the BJP had welcomed the idea of a relief fund for COVID-19 and now it was backing away from it. There are 23 BJP corporators in the house of 131 corporators in the TMC.

Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday alleged that the 16 migrant workers, who were crushed to death by a train in Maharashtra on Friday, had applied to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan govenment for passes to travel back home about a fortnight ago, but the administration failed to act on it. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted a video in which a survivor of the train tragedy claimed that they had applied for their return to their respective districts in Madhya Pradesh. Alleging that the MP government's "negligence and inaction" led to the death of the workers, Singh also called for a probe to know what arrangements the BJP-led government had done to bring back these workers after they applied for return. "The workers killed in the train accident had asked for passes from the Shivraj government about fifteen days back. These 16 lives could have been saved, if passes were issued. Shivraj ji, these deaths are the result of jungle raj," Madhya Pradesh ...

The Uttar Pradesh Congress has launched a chat portal that will let people list the problems being faced by them amid the ongoing COVID-19-induced lockdown, the party said on Saturday. The complaints received from users of the UP Mitr' chat portal will be forwarded to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath so that the state government can help the people, state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a statement. "The portal has been made to help the common public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through it, problems of the common public will be listed and the UP Congress will help the complainants. The list of complaints will be sent to the chief minister, Lallu said. The Congress leader said that his party was committed to help every needy person in the state. "The party is running community kitchens at various places in the state including Ghaziabad, Hapur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lakhimpur Khiri and Lucknow, he said in the statement. The party's district committee is making dry ration available ..

Gas leak was detected on a goods train transporting LPG on Saturday at Bhopal railway station in Madhya Pradesh, a Railways official said. He said the leakage was minor and controlled immediately. The train was headed towards Bakania, where bottling plant of an oil company is located, about 20 kms away from the railway station near Bairagarh. "The leakage was reported in the LPG container of a goods train at around 11.30 am at the Bhopal railway station. The goods train of Konkan Railway was going to Bakania near Bhopal. The leakage was immediately controlled," said a PRO of the Railways.

Minority communities are contributing equally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic along with others in the society, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday. He also announced that the Minority Affairs Ministry will launch 'Jaan Bhi, Jahan Bhi' nationwide awareness campaign soon to make people aware of social distancing and other guidelines for safety from coronavirus. More than 1,500 healthcare assistants, who have been trained under the skill development programme of the Minority Affairs Ministry, are assisting in treatment and wellbeing of COVID-19 patients. Naqvi said these healthcare assistants include 50 per cent girls who are helping in treatment of coronavirus patients in various hospitals and healthcare centres across the country. This year, more than 2,000 other healthcare assistants will be trained by the Minority Affairs Ministry, he said in a statement. The ministry is providing one-year training to healthcare assistants through various health

A special committee has been formed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for containing the spread of COVID-19 in different parts of the city, a member of the panel said. Chairperson, caretaker board of administrators of the civic body and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim, former deputy mayor Atin Ghosh, four community medicine experts and KMC health officials are members of the newly formed committee. The panel was formed after Hakim assumed charge as chairperson of the caretaker board of administrators (BOA) of the KMC on Friday. The state government appointed the board since elections could not be held to the KMC owing to the coronavirus outbreak. The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the BOA to act as the KMC's caretaker board for a month. Ghosh told PTI on Saturday, "We will sit every afternoon to take stock of the situation and decide accordingly. "Apart from containment zones, we will review the situation in other areas of the city as well. There ...

Fearing a surge in cases of domestic violence, wives of two Punjab Congress leaders, including a cabinet minister, have urged Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to reconsider his government's decision of allowing home delivery of liquor. The state government had allowed the home delivery of liquor during the third phase of the coronavirus lockdown from Thursday. Though there is no provision for it in the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 and the excise rules, the decision was taken to ensure social distancing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh too on Thursday had said that the opening of liquor shops will lead to an increase in domestic violence. Expressive reservations about the decision, Mamta Ashu, a Ludhaina councillor and wife of Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, on Saturday said the fight against drugs was an election promise of the Congress due to which the decision needed a rethink. It might lead to increase in cases of

Two men were arrested in Shamli district for allegedly posting an objectionable WhatsApp message against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, police said. The WhatApp group admin Vikas Upadhyay and Vikki Jatav, who sent the message, were arrested in Shamli on Friday, according to Circle Officer Jitender Singh. A case was registered against the two men under Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code Sections 500 (punishment for defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). According to the complaint lodged by a local resident, it is alleged that Vikki Jatav posted the message against the political leaders on a WhatsApp group.

Ride-hailing platform provider Ola on Saturday said it has donated Rs 50 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Relief Fund to help the government in its fight against COVID-19 pandemic. The fund would support prevention and relief measures including healthcare support and addressing economic relief measures in the state. ".. Ola Group remains committed to helping states, communities and those most-affected by pandemic. We extend our humble contribution to the State of Tamil Nadu as we work together fighting COVID-19," Ola Group Co- founder Bhavish Aggarwal said in a company statement. "We are grateful to all men and women, who in these extra-ordinary times, who continue to serve at frontlines," Aggarwal who is also the CEO said. On Friday, another ride hailing major, Uber India had said it would offer free rides to healthcare workers and government officials of Greater Chennai Corporation engaged in coronavirus related work under its UberMedic Service. The free rides ...

Confusion prevailed over the number of deaths due to coronavirus in the national capital, with data from four hospitals showing that 92 people succumbed to the infection as against 68 fatalities reported by the Delhi government. The toll of 68 shared by the Delhi government in its health bulletin on Friday is based on data collected from 10 hospitals, including AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College. According to the bulletin, AIIMS (Delhi and Jhajjar) reported two deaths, Safdarjung Hospital reported four, RML 26 and Lady Hardinge Medical College had none till Friday. However, officials from these hospitals said the number of people who died due to coronavirus in the national capital till Friday is higher than that reflected in the Delhi government's bulletin. AIIMS (Delhi Trauma Centre and Jhajjar) has recorded a total of 14 deaths, an official said. According to All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Medical ...

The Congress on Saturday said there was "confusion" within the central government in its fight against the novel coronavirus and wondered how would India tackle the pandemic if officials continued to speak in different voices. Referring to "differing" comments made by some officials on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said the government should tell the people clearly about the exact state of the pandemic to enable them to prepare accordingly. He also came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi and asked it to be more transparent in reporting cases of the novel coronavirus. His comments came as confusion prevailed over the number of deaths due to the coronavirus in the national capital, with data from four hospitals showing that 92 people succumbed to the infection as against 68 fatalities reported by the Delhi government. He said it was a "matter of shame" that the national capital was witnessing "a sorry state of ...

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, 74, was admitted in a private hospital here on Saturday after he suffered a cardiac arrest, doctors said, adding that his condition is critical. Citing the information provided by family members of Ajit Jogi, the hospital said he fell unconscious at his residence here in the morning. Ajit Jogi's son Amit Jogi told PTI from Bilaspur that the health of his father deteriorated suddenly while he was having breakfast. As per a health bulletin released by Shree Narayana Hospital, Ajit Jogi was given cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at his residence by a senior intensivist before he was rushed to the hospital. "Jogi suffered a cardiac arrest at his house only. As of now, his ECG and pulse have returned to normal which means his heartbeats are returning to normal functioning. But his respiration is still not normal. He is on a ventilator and his condition is critical," it said. Ajit Jogi's MLA wife Renu Jogi is with him at the ..

BJP president J P Nadda said on Saturday that making "inhuman" comments about the health of Home Minister Amit Shah is "extremely condemnable". "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 it and pray to God to grant them good sense," Nadda said in a tweet. His tweet came after Shah, also Nadda's predecessor as the BJP president, asserted in a statement that he is "totally healthy" and rejected rumours being spread about his ill health on social media.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's manic following just keeps on increasing with India and Chennaiyin FC midfielder Anirudh Thapa being the latest to join the badwagon of his awestruck fans. Dhoni is one of the co-owners of Chennaiyin FC, the twice winners of Indian Super League in 2015 and 2017-18 season. The 22-year-old Thapa treasures his interactions with Dhoni during times when former India cricket captain would drop in to meet the Chennaiyin footballers. "He (Dhoni) used to come whenever we had a team lunch. He would stay back to talk to the boys and shared his experiences. He's a very down to earth guy. Obviously Thala is my favourite cricketer," Thapa said. "There were others who also asked him to come and sit with them, but instead he always preferred to sit with the footballers. He would say Let me sit with the boys and let me share some experiences'." Thapa, who has played 24 matches for India since 2017, said Dhoni would also share his on and off-field experiences with the ...

Bihar Information and Public Relations Minister Niraj Kumar on Saturday hit back at the Congress for demanding his resignation due to the expiry of his MLC tenure, asserting he is holding his ministerial post as per constitutional provisions. Congress national spokesperson and Bihar MLC Prem Chandra Mishra Mishra had on Friday termed as "unethical and against constitutional norms" the continuance of Bihar ministers Niraj Kumar and Ashok Choudhary in their posts despite the expiry of their tenures in the legislative council earlier this week. Both the JD(U) leaders were sworn-in as ministers a year ago, during a Cabinet expansion by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shortly after the NDA's stupendous victory in the Lok Sabha elections. They are among 17 members of the 75-strong legislative council whose tenure ended on Wednesday. The Election Commission is yet to announce a poll schedule for the Upper House. Building Construction Minister Ashok Choudhary and IPRD Minister ...

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 resident of Sector 66 was among the two people who tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the officials said. "He expired yesterday (Friday) evening. The cause of the death was cardio-respiratory failure, District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said in a statement. The other person who tested positive for COVID-19 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. A 60-year-old man from Sector 22 died on Friday due to respiratory failure, becoming the first COVID-19 casualty in Gautam Buddh Nagar, officials had said.

The Karnataka government has allowed garment units in red zone districts, but outside containment zones, to resume operations with one third of the workforce. Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar in the May 8 order, said all recognised garment factories having an Importer- Exporter Code (IEC) and those registered with the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) can start operations with one third of the total workforce in red zone districts, but outside containment zones. It said the permission is subject to following of the Standard Operating Procedures. Currently Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural and Mysuru are the red zone districts in the state. The government had recently allowed certain industrial activities other than in the containment zones to operate, while relaxing the COVID-19 induced lockdown in the state. During the earlier phases of lockdown, only those garments involved in the manufacture of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits for front line COVID ...

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

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

This week, Senate lawmakers return to Washington to start working on the next round of aid for households and businesses. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains how Congress may need to come to a trade-off that pleases both parties. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP

The transcript of President Trump's call with Ukraine shed light on a method for classifying documents that's even more top secret than top secret. WSJ spoke to a former National Security Council official to understand the intricacies of the White House server security system.

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.

Who decides if livelihoods or habitat should be the focus of conservation efforts? In a remote island in the Sunderbans, fisherfolk whose seasonal dry-fishing dates back many generations find themselves competing with mangroves and the Environment Ministry's changing stance on national security. Sunita Dubey reports.

The governing body meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Brazil in March. Since being one of the most pro-active countries in the formulation of the CBD, India has been gradually losing its leadership role in the last few years. Kanchi Kohli elaborates.

A conservation legislation like Biodiversity Act is being implemented as an access legislation. The Environmental Impact Assessment notification which is has great potential for people's involvement is today a mere clearance formality. Kanchi Kohli says the Ministry of Environment must revisit its original purpose.

The formal count of the number of tigers in India's 28 tiger reserves is expected to be announced on 31 December 2007. The report could help formulate policies of land use as well as accentuate the debate on rehabilitation of forest dwellers in favour of wildlife conservation, writes Malini Shankar.

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.

Many of the institutions or departments who have sent in applications for IPR consideration to the NBA are also represented on the committee which evaluates the applications, reports Kanchi Kohli.

Many of the conditions under which the Narmada dams were erected remain unfulfilled, but this does not deter the government from pushing for further construction. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

Man-animal conflict in India is taking a heavy toll on habitat and thereby the survival of wildlife. Malini Shankar writes that there is no option but to relocate forest-dwellers out of protected areas.

Were mobile towers primarily responsible for the dwindling number of house sparrows across India? Deepa Mohan studies the findings of a recent survey to explore the more likely reasons behind this wane of the species.

Per Supreme Court's order without environment clearance mining of sand is prohibited across the country but as Kanchi Kohli reports reality is different. Illegal sand mining is on rise to meet the increasing demand of the construction industry and impacting the ecosystem of our rivers and communities depending on the river.

Evidence of violation of environment regulation by the Adani group in their Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd and the Waterfront Development Project have been found. Kanchi Kohli reports on why both the projects are still moving ahead.

Per Biological Diversity Act, 2002 before using any Indian biological material for commercial or R&D purposes, public consultation is needed via the local Biodiversity Management Committees, which the National Biodiversity Authority wants to do away with. Kanchi Kohli and Shalini Bhutani ask why.

Meghalaya's vocational training system, despite being funded by New Delhi as well as the state government, has two problems. One, there is dearth of adequate number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). Two, the placement record is poor and does not generate demand. Ratna Bharali Talukdar finds out what went wrong.

Following an 18-month long yatra of the nation's river basins, the Rashtriya Jal Biradari proposes policies and steps to address India's water problems. Anuj Grover reports.

A senior advisor with the World Bank is quick to hail the establishment of water entitlements in India, but is it too quick? Merely promising quotas of water on paper, or setting up 'rights' that cannot be enforced, is hardly the same as actually providing water to meet citizens' needs, observes Videh Upadhyay.

The practical management of water systems has become detached from the knowledge gained through research, which has made great progress in the last two or three decades. Because critical elements of research have been externalised, the induction of new inter-disciplinary learning has been greatly limited, writes Jayanta Bandyopadhyay.

A two-day dialogue on urban rivers held in Pune focused on the plight of urban rivers. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports and presents his views.

The Supreme Court issued six directives in 2006 on bringing about police reforms in the states to make the police free from political interference and accountable to the citizens. Kathyayini Chamaraj analyses the state governments' responses and finds much amiss.

Four years on, positives seem to be weighed down by negatives -- thanks mainly to the aggressive land acquisition for mega real estate projects by the ruling LDF coalition. P N Venugopal wonders if the government’s confidence is at its low ebb.