-The Hindu Move to improve post-matric scholarship scheme yet to create immediate impact Over 40 per cent of seats earmarked for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in engineering courses have gone unfilled at the end of counselling. There is no surprise element this year as the current figure of vacancy conforms to the trend, going by the data of admission and vacancy since 2009, when a sub-quota of three per cent for Arunthathiyars was created...

-PTI Darjeeling (WB), Aug. 27: In the conflict between forest guards and forest dwellers in West Bengal’s Doars and Terai regions, 13 Tribals have died in firing by forest guards since 2007, according to the State Forest Department. While the Forest Department described those killed as belonging to the timber mafia, rights bodies claimed they were just poor and innocent Tribals who merely entered the forest in search of firewood and forest...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to explain why state-run orphanages throw out inmates the day they turn 18 though they may be unemployed and unable to fend for themselves. Acting on a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Sudhanshu S. Choudhari, the court issued the notices on Tuesday to the Union women and child development ministry and its counterparts in all the states and Union territories. It asked the...

-The Business Standard About 15 kms from the idyllic hilly town of Semiliguda in South Odisha’s Koraput district, the stage is set for an encore of the Niyamgiri-type agitation, as the Tribals gather at the foothills of Mali Parbat to protest against bauxite mining by Hindalco Industries Ltd in the area. Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe at Niyamgiri, whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad, Aug. 24: The Andhra Pradesh Government has announced new guidelines for sand mining in Agency (tribal) areas of Khammam and Warangal to bring transparency and accountability. According to the guidelines issued by the Government, the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation Ltd has initiated steps to start sand operations under the control of gram panchayats and tribal societies. This will be under the supervision of district collectors and...