-The Hindu   Recent searches conducted by officials of Union Home Ministry on the premises of the Tuticorin Roman Catholic Bishop's official premises in the backdrop of the ongoing anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protests have yielded information about the influx of foreign funds to the tune of Rs. 54 crore to two non-governmental organisations, Union Minister V. Narayanasamy has said. “These two NGOs are being administered by RC Bishop of Tuticorin Diocese Rt....

Activist Vandana Shiva and an Europe-based NGO have jointly opposed a patent awarded to an American company on virus resistance traits taken from indigenous melon varieties in India. The NGOs — Navdanya and No Patent on Seeds — contend that, armed with this patent, the U.S. company (Monsanto) could block access to all breeding material inheriting the virus resistance derived from the Indian melon. Seeking complete revocation of the patent the NGOs,...

The shortage in the number of applicants for seats reserved for less privileged children in private schools appears to be an advantage for the institutions to prevent the proper implementation of the Right to Education Act in the city. The RTE Act makes it mandatory for all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of the seats at the entry class level for underprivileged children and teach them free of cost....

Canada-based software consultant Nitin Mandlaus survived the Delhi high court blast of September 7, 2011 despite 822 pieces of shrapnel piercing his body. After four long operations, the 37-year-old still walks about with 600-odd metal pieces inside his body. Apart from the pain these are causing him, the tiny objects are also preventing his return home to his wife and son in Toronto. It's a shocking tale. Mandlaus can't catch a...

-PTI   Aiming to preserve the indigenous knowledge of tribals and products manufactured by them with the help of natural resources, government is planning to patent some of these under the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). "Tribal Affairs Ministry has taken an initiative to patent the forest by-products and indigenous knowledge of making these products through the Intellectual Property Rights," Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said here. "The use of products and the...