Five months after two BRItish newspapers released a controversial video film showing scantily clad Jarawa tribal women dancing for tourists in return for food and money, the government finally acted on Thursday: the Union Cabinet approved the promulgation of a law that BRIngs into effect a buffer zone in the 5 km radius around the Jarawa tribal settlements in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and provides for imprisonment up to...

-The Times of India The country loses Rs 60,000 crore a year due to congestion (including fuel wastage), slow speed of freight vehicles and waiting time at toll plazas and checking points, a study on operational efficiencies of freight transportation by roads has claimed. It said vehicles crawl at an average speed of less than 20 kmph on some key corridors such as Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Guwahati while it's only 21.35 kmph...

-The Economic Times For nearly two decades, the Government of India has implemented a stingy pension programme for the elderly poor. "An insult to the dignity" of the elderly is how rural development minister Jairam Ramesh describes the pension amount of Rs 200 per month given under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS). A few states provide a somewhat generous supplemental pension, most provide a tiny supplemental amount, some...

From filling in voter information gaps to catching improprieties, the media has helped keep elections fair and transparent Our knowledge and awareness of the world today is largely determined by what the media decides to inform us. The priorities that the media sets often become the priorities of the public. In our country, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are strongly complemented by the media. No one could vouch for...

By recognising the rights of the transgender community, the state is not doling out largesse; it is only performing its duty under the Constitution They came beautifully dressed, some a tad BRIghtly, but all beautifully and proudly, there was much chatter, and a lot of sisterhood. It was the public hearing of transgenders at Delhi. An excluded group must definitely feel cheered in a gathering, where the members of that group...