Disability rights groups are up in arms against a Bill proposing an amendment to the Copyright Act, 1952, that prevents non-governmental organisations, educational institutions and persons with disabilities from converting reading material including textbooks and reference material into audio, digital and other formats that can be used by differently-abled persons. The amendment Bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha this week, if passed in its current form, will prevent over 70 million...

PUDUCHERRY: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has agreed to extend loan to the territorial administration for constructing additional classrooms and laboratories in government schools. In the near future, 559 classrooms would be constructed in the Union Territory, Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam told the Assembly on Thursday. Replying to the debate on the demands for grants to School Education, the Chief Minister said the bank had consented to extend a...

As we celebrate World Earth Day on April 22, meet some inspiring eco-warriors who give back to earth through friendly tourism practices.  Responsible tourism is the desire to respect the very wonders that make us leave our moorings to see new, faraway places. “You can't leave this place till you plant a sapling in our organic garden.” “This is the solar panel that heated your bath water this morning.” “We don't have...

Funds allocated for the United Progressive Alliance government’s flagship rural welfare scheme, although the highest for any single social welfare programme, are enough to meet only about half its objective, says a report by a legislative panel. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) guarantees at least 100 days of work a year for one member of every poor rural household. The parliamentary standing committee on rural development, which assessed...

To perpetuate a system that assigns a household to a single BPL/APL category in circumstances in which poverty is multi-dimensional is not only bad economics, but unconscionable as well.  The pilot surveys for the next Census of BPL (below-poverty-line) households are due to begin. Discussions are now on to finalise the methodology for the survey, and as the BPL Census is a matter of the subsistence and survival of hundreds...