When Asha Shinde left Aundh in Maharashtra’s dusty Satara district to pursue the dream of a career in Pune a couple of years ago, she demonstrated to her sleepy hometown a quiet defiance that it was unfamiliar with. On Tuesday, the shocked town was saying it is even less familiar with what happened two days ago. On Sunday morning, 25-year-old Asha was bludgeoned to death by her father in their home...

-Orissa Diary   Narayanpatna : About 5000 tribals from across Narayanpatna and Bandhugan blocks in Koraput district were stopped by heavily armed security forces at different places this morning as they were on their way to attend the two-day convention on preservation of tribal language and culture.  This convention, planned for 21st and 22nd February 2012 at Balipeta Hatpada, was to be attended by 10,000 tribals from 12 different tribes across Koraput district....

-The Indian Express   Delhi residents are ahead of the others in terms of earning and spending, says a new government survey. At nearly Rs 1.16 lakh, the average annual per capita income of Delhiites is the highest in the country, and at Rs 33,732, the annual per capita expenditure too is the highest, as per the survey. “The monthly per capita expenditure of Delhiites signifies the prevalence of relatively better levels of living...

-PTI The National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh has turned murkier with another health official being found murdered at his home — the fifth victim in the last one year after the alleged bungling of over Rs.10,000 crore of Central funds surfaced. The U.P. police found the body of Mahendra Sharma, an accountant, with severe injuries on his head and face, from the Pasgawan health centre area in Lakhimpur Kheri...

Odisha village gets pattas after nearly half a century. Land reform programmes get jumpstart They say home is where the heart is, but that’s not always true. Ask Arakhita Pradhan, resident of Chilipoi village in Odisha’s Ganjam district. On a cold evening some 44 years ago, the authorities forcefully shifted him and his neighbours to a place where no civic amenities existed. Reason: the state had built an irrigation dam that...