-The Times of India   Six years after it was conceived, the first lot of 10,000 laptops – the HRD ministry calls it low-cost access-cum-computing device — would be delivered to IIT-Rajasthan in late June, and over the next four months 90,000 more would be made available at Rs 2,200 APIece. The announcement was made on Wednesday at the state education ministers' conference. Ministry officials said once the supply of one lakh...

-PTI   Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Jammu and Kashmir GR Sofi has said all the government institutions and organisations which have public dealing including NGOs come under the purview of the Right to Information Act. "Not only government institutions are accountable under RTI Act but those dealing with public like NGOs and charity trusts are also covered under the Act," Sofi said addressing a workshop on RTI awareness in Budgam district...

A few years ago, Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, had a chance meeting with Som Pal, former member of the Planning Commission and earlier minister of state for agriculture, and was bowled over by his sage-like views on developmental issues. The president promptly invited Som Pal to his blighted country to suggest policy measures to get out of a developmental quagmire. Som Pal travelled to Rwanda; he was hosted at...

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has directed the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to blacklist all non-performing contractors, holding them responsible for the twin malaise of delays and prevalence of corruption in execution of road projects. The committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), did not rule out the possibility of a nexus among middlemen, bad contractors and corrupt officials for the delay in projects and...

Orissa is awaiting the accreditation of its certification agency- Orissa State Seeds and Organic Products Certification Agency (OSSOPCA) for promoting organic farming in the state in a big way. “Our certification agency- OSSOPCA is under the process of accreditation of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). This will be a major milestone for getting our organic areas under certification program for better market strategy. Post harvest technology...