As he juggles between attending phone calls and giving interviews to television journalists promising to put him on prime time ‘live’ on Tuesday evening, Subhash Chand Agarwal, 60, recalls a short trip on a rickety DTC bus from Mall Road to Red Fort in 1967 as a young engineering student. “I had an ugly spat with the bus conductor who refused to give me a ticket for the 20 paise...

A landless labourer dies on Christmas day after going without food for five days. Neither he nor his wife, who was a job card holder under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, knew they could demand work or avail of unemployment benefits as a right It was a death that could have been avoided. Kishen Singh, a 45-year-old landless labourer, died of hunger in Champakheda village in south Rajasthan. What...

In a landmark verdict against the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information law, saying judicial independence is not a judge's privilege but a responsibility cast upon him. The 88-page judgment is being seen as a personal setback to CJI K G Balakrishnan, who has been opposed to disclosure of...

The recently released figures from the Central Statistical Organisation that estimate how fast India’s states have been growing have undoubtedly been the biggest economic news of the new year. There are many fascinating aspects to the new numbers: for example, that Bihar is the country’s second-fastest growing state, growing at 11.03 per cent annually in the years since 2004-05 — only 0.02 per cent behind Gujarat, a more familiar success...

Unhindered commercial activity around the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is posing a serious threat to the eco-fragile zone and obstructing movement of animals. Flashy discos, motorbike racing, loud music, bright lights and lavish weddings in resorts on the periphery of the Park, in gross violation of laws and scant concern for the wildlife, are fast spoiling the peace and tranquillity of the eco-fragile zone. “There are about 3,200 beds...