Almost a month ago, when the Jayalalithaa-appointed state expert panel gave a clean chit to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), Firstpost had stated that the agitation was practically over. It was only a matter of time before the protesters were either asked to vacate the plant site or were forcibly removed. Since then, the PMANE (People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy) and the local struggle committee were essentially waging a losing...

National AIDS Control Programme urged to move beyond medicine-centric approach The government programmes for children suffering from HIV/AIDS should move from medicine-centric approach to include nutrition and preventive care, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended. In its recently released report ‘Rights and entitlements of children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS 2010-11’, the organisation also advocated provisions for issuing BPL cards to children who have lost their...

-The Indian Express Gay rights activists today submitted in Supreme Court that criminalising homosexual acts is against constitutional values and that the law should not interfere when consenting adults are involved. Naz Foundation, an NGO working for the welfare and rehabilitation of HIV infected people, contended that homosexuals face social ostracism with gay sex being declared as an offence. Appearing before a bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, the...

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has released draft recommendations for a social security package for the country’s unorganized sector, which envisages providing life, disability and health cover, maternity benefits and old-age pension to workers. NAC, in a draft released on 7 March, suggested that the different welfare schemes being run by the ministries of women and child development, health and family welfare, finance and labour and employment should be...

-The Telegraph Most poor families in Jharkhand may not have heard of the word “bank”. But they are banking on a better future for their daughters, thanks to the ubiquitous village post office, which they are now embracing to reap the benefits of a thoughtful government scheme. Over 2,000 saving accounts have been opened at different post offices across districts in just one month to tap the Mukhyamantri Ladli Laxmi Yojana that...