A government panel has suggested the Centre revise its “no intervention” policy on the Jarawas of the Andamans and try to “empower” them rather than let them continue to be what an academic has described as “showpiece hunter-gatherers”. The panel wants the government to see if it can provide food and medical help —and possibly some education and housing — to these tribals inside the Jarawa Reserve without disrupting their lifestyle. It...

In a move aimed to protect victims of sexual abuse from further mental trauma, a high powered government committee has recommended abolishing the "two finger test" for determining rape or sexual assault. Rape survivors are routinely subjected to forensic examination that include the "finger" test. Social activists have for long been demanding a ban on the "archaic and outdated" practice. They termed the test "unscientific and degrading". In a bid to protect...

-ANI Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sushma Swaraj, said availing loan in India is not easy for the poor people. While addressing a function organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an economic wing of Hindu Radical Outfit, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, in New Delhi on Sunday. Swaraj said even the Central Government's scheme is unable to provide loan to the poor. "Taking loan is not easy in this country, people loose patience...

-Hardnews Bureau Delhi The announcement of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry for Ankit Garg, the SP of Dantewada is a reflection of the sad state of the Indian Republic as it celebrates its 63rd Republic Day. It is indeed shocking to see that a police officer who was accused of brutalising and torturing the young Adivasi teacher, Soni Sori, is being lauded by the State even after reports of perversity...

On a wall on Station Road, among posters of Khoonkar Darinde and The Dirty Picture, Amitabh Bachchan looks out of a row of yellow-and-red posters and says, “Do boond har baar.” Here in Moradabad, the town in western Uttar Pradesh that till recently exported, besides its intricate brassware, strains of the deadly polio virus, the posters have been around for long. The writing on the wall was clear: this was...