The rollercoaster ride to success of an illiterate Bihar youth, who launched a radio station and promoted social messages on polio, AIDS and other issues but was arrested for illegally running it, has found place in school textbooks. The story of Raghav, in his mid-20s, and his 'Raghav Radio' has been published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in its book Bharat Mein Samajik Parivartan Evam...

At least 25 Gujjars including women and children have been reported missing following incessant rains and snowfall in the Himalayan region during the past few days. Reports said that the worst hit was the Wadwan area in the Jammu region, where about 25 people are reportedly missing along with their livestock. “We have reports about these families and we are trying to establish contact with their relatives in Patnitop,” divisional commissioner...

Delhi High Court today told the Centre to form a committee of technical and medical experts to examine potential health hazards from mobile phone towers, saying the issue was more important than monetary considerations. The court order said whether radio waves “pose any serious health threat or not, and what precautions are required to be taken so that there are minimal chances of causing any threat to the health of...

ON May 31, when the government announces GDP numbers for 2009-10, for the first time, factories would contribute more to the national income than the country’s farmers, marking a significant shift in the structure of the India economy. That does not, however, diminish the importance of the farm, fisheries and the forest sector because of the disproportionately high percentage of people still engaged in these activities. Neither does it take...

Gujarat's business acumen and entrepreneurial zest is passé; the State's leap-frogging with 11 per cent agricultural growth, praised by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) last year, is old hat too. What is new is this: Gujarat may now export more ‘kesar', the famous mango variety of the State, to West Asia than Maharashtra sells alphonso; the State has entered Goa market with cashew nut; and an Ahmedabad-based part-time...