-The Hindu They also allege borewells are being dug without permission Chennai: Environmentalists and naturalists are shocked at the conversion of traditional agriculture land into resorts and digging of borewells in the ecologically sensitive Sirumalai forests in the Dindigul forest division. Sirumalai is popular for its hill banana, which is grown only there. Basically, it is a catchment area, where sixty per cent of flora found in the Western Ghats, are available. This...

-PTI panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday called the Right to Education (RTE) Act as Union Minister Kapil Sibal's "absolutely foolish policy". "RTE Act is Kapil Sibal's absolutely foolish policy. There are certain parameters in the policy which are wrong," Mr Parrikar told reporters while objecting to the RTE Act's no-detention clause. "The idea of no-detention is good, but there should be good parameters to implement it. After RTE, studying has...

-Down to Earth Government and academic differ on reasons for decline Census data, released by directorate of census operations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has revealed that the tribal population of the islands declined by 3.19 per cent in the decade between 2001 and 2011. The overall population on the islands, however, increased by 6.86 per cent. While the government says the 2004 tsunami could be a reason for the decline...

-PTI Burdwan (WB): About 150 sheets, allegedly copies of petitions filed by depositors related to the Saradha chit fund scam, were found on the side of rail tracks between Kalna and Guptipara stations of Eastern Railway's Howrah-Burdwan section on Sunday. GRP sources said about 150 papers, claimed to be petitions of depositors from Murshidabad and Jharkhand, were spotted ying on the sides of the rail track at Purbo Satgachia station by local...

-The Hindu   Ranbaxy's fraudulent practices may have jeopardised millions of lives in India, Africa and the U.S. Exactly two weeks ago, the pharmaceuticals industry was rocked by revelations that one of the world's largest generic drug manufacturers, Ranbaxy Laboratories, pleaded guilty to seven federal criminal charges stemming from its fraudulent production practices dating back to 2008, and agreed to pay U.S. regulators $500 million in fines. Much has since been said about Ranbaxy's...