It would have meant endless sorties and waste of fuel for choppers but for the combined technology of GIS and GPS used by the forest department to map wildlife areas that gave the pilots the much-needed coordinates to carry out relief operations in the almost inaccessible Dzongu. Crafted by the forest department to prepare maps meant for delineation, protection and management of wildlife areas, the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global...

As a national debate rages over the Indian poverty line, in the heart of Bandra, one of Mumbai’s richest suburbs, in a shanty with barely enough standing space for two adults, three-year-old Priya Doiphode, clad in a red tee shirt, lies listless on a string bed. Priya is one of the 83,243 children in Mumbai who are malnourished, according to government data, a statistic that makes Mumbai the most malnourished...

Mamata Banerjee today appealed to the tribals in the Dooars and the Terai to take their case to the committee formed by the state government to look into the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha demand of bringing the Gorkha-dominated areas of the plains under the hill set-up. The tribals are opposed to the Morcha demand and have threatened protests and demonstrations if the state government accepts it. “A committee chaired by Justice (Retd) Shyamal...

-The Business Standard   Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has called for fast tracking construction of rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Naxalite-affected districts. He said this will be the single most important rural development initiative that can significantly transform the ground-level situation in these districts. Ramesh said an additional Rs 15,000 crore was needed to complete all PMGSY projects covering areas with a population of 250 to...

Both Nandan Nilekani and his well-wishers are today, two years after he set out on his unique identification (UID) journey, wiser if not a more disillusioned lot. Right at the outset he had acknowledged concerns over privacy issues, saying, “India does not really have a privacy law. So all this will act as an impetus to define the privacy framework for Indians.” That gaping hole is still staring us in...