-The Hindu   The door between the cubicle of suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui and that of his killer, Sharad Mohol, was left unguarded, and the guard and hawaldar concerned have been suspended, official sources said on Tuesday. Siddiqui, a key accused in the Bangalore blast case and suspect in the conspiracy to blow up a Pune temple, was murdered in the high-security Anda Cell of Pune's Yerwada jail last week. Sharad...

-PTI Planning Commission, which is mired in a controversy over what constitutes the poverty line, has spent a whopping Rs 35 lakh for renovation of two toilets in New Delhi, an RTI reply has revealed. The Commission, which came up with a controversial poverty line figure of Rs 28 per day for an individual, has spent Rs 30 lakh for the renovation of the toilets on the lines of Indira Gandhi International...

The Yojana Bhavan toilets are causing a stink of a different kind. The Planning Commission, which estimated a poverty line figure of Rs 28 per day per person, lavished Rs 35 lakh on refurbishing two toilets in its headquarters. For good measure, the commission has admitted in an RTI response, it has spent Rs 5.19 lakh in installing an access control system in the toilets. The facility, installed while the toilets...

A classroom reflecting life's diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience. Now that the Supreme Court has validated the Right to Education (RTE), its success will depend on teachers. When I said this to a friend who teaches in a primary school, she said, “you are being unfair.” I was startled to hear this response because what I had said was common sense. When I pointed this...

-PTI Despite initiating steps to prevent crime in trains and stations, there has been an increase in cases of misconduct against women passengers. As per data available with the Railways, a total of 712 cases including rape, murder, robbery and eve-teasing were reported against women and children in railway premises in 2011 as against 501 cases in the previous year. There were 15 rape and 362 eve-teasing cases reported in 2011 as against...