Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is often feted for development work. But it seems the progress has not reached the remote, rural areas of the state — certainly not the tribal district of Jhabua. At least 46 children have reportedly died of malnutrition and starvation in the district since last October. But the authorities refuse to even acknowledge the problem, let alone take any action. Most of the deaths have been...

Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi recently took the extraordinary step of unilaterally releasing the minutes of the October 14, 2009 meeting between Union Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Central and State Information Commissioners on a proposal to significantly amend the Right to Information Act, 2005. The meeting's importance lay in the fact that it saw the hopeless isolation of the government side (Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public...

Over 1,500 people comprising farmers, residents and activists who have been affected by the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project around Bangalore, began their journey to the national capital from the City Railway Station on Sunday afternoon to voice their protest. For many, it is their first trip to New Delhi, and as a group, they felt they had a lot of opportunities to exchange ideas and develop bonds. Janata Dal (Secular)...

“It would improve the standard of life of people in the rural areas”  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark has praised successful implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Rajasthan, saying it would improve the standard of life of people in the rural areas and stop their migration to cities. “Conceived as the biggest employment generation programme in the world, the NREGS is seemingly yielding...

For nuclear plant at Jaitapur, only site clearance is granted Environment and development have to be balanced Reacting to reports on Monsanto's admission of pest resistance to its transgenic cotton, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the issue needed to be properly examined. The Minister said he had also seen an earlier report from the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, which pointed out insect resistance...