The 97th Indian Science Congress is in session at Thiruvananthapuram (January 3 to 7, 2010), the capital of the state of Kerala. For me, every session of the Congress is a new experience; an experience of learning and re-dedication to the cause propounded by the country’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It is a matter of pride for the scientific community in the country that it is the Prime...

A committee appointed by the Union Government has found fault with the entire process of land reforms, particularly the dubious role of officialdom, and called for revisiting the land ceiling limits and that too with retrospective effect. The Committee on State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms, set up subsequent to the constitution of the National Council for Land Reforms under the Prime Minister, has underlined the relevance...

If your child can go from a ‘near zero’ learning ability to getting 95 per cent in mathematics and from a state of malnutrition to WHO-approved standards of health, chances are that you will not find the Naxal ideology all that attractive. I was in the Naxal heartland of Bastar to review the learning skills of children in 300 schools who were being educated by the Naandi Foundation when news...

Women’s groups, organisations and individuals have appealed to Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily to amend the laws on sexual violence at the earliest, arguing that there is an urgent need for strict and exemplary action against any state functionaries who conspire to deny justice to victims of sexual violence. The organisations and individuals, coming under the banner of ANHAD, called for a time-bound national discussion on ways to democratically advance...

Ironically, the Right to Information (RTI) Act is being used to unseat Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah himself.    Using documents got using the Act, Mumbai-based RTI activist Girish Mittal on Monday served a legal notice on the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Personnel & Grievances (DoPT) saying that Habibullah, whose resignation is still hanging fire, is being accorded preferential treatment and that he should be relieved...