-Down to Earth The true potential of the Fifth Schedule was diluted right at its conception Incontrovertibly, the object of creating the Fifth Schedule was to make a special instrument for the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes. It was formulated for the implementation of the Directive Principle that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of ...... the Schedules Tribes, and shall protect them from...

-Down to Earth   BJP thinks undoing labour laws will spur a manufacturing boom. Even now workers enjoy little protection or social security In recent weeks, the pink press has been singing paeans to a new star in the political firmament, one whom they see as a worthy disciple of the man who gave us the "Gujarat model" of development. The media's new discovery is none other than Vasundhara Raje, the Rajasthan...

-Down to Earth Health department officials would interact with the public and elected representatives to understand and redress grievances relating to public health facilities If you are not getting the benefit of health schemes you are entitled to or local health establishments are showing casual approach, there is a forum for you to redress your grievance. Karnataka has launched the one-of-its-kind "health adalat" for such aggrieved persons on September 2. State health and family...

-Down to Earth Tells states to keep big contractors out of nutrition programme for children, and pregnant and lactating women The Supreme Court on Monday directed two BJP-ruled states, Gujarat and Rajasthan, to start decentralised procurement of rations for the child nutrition programme, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). ICDS, which was started in 1975 and is now a part of the National Food Security Act, provides for supplementary nutrition for all children from...

-Down to Earth The move will give a boost to the export of the variety; help growers get a premium price for the fruit Citrus Reticulata Blanco, the world famous orange of Nagpur, was recently given the Geographical Indicators (GI) tag under the Geographical Indication of Goods, (Registration and Protection) Act 1999. This means the growers of the Nagpur orange, or Nagpur mandarin (as it is known to scientists), will now be...