The public hearing held here to elicit the opinion of tribal people of various villages under Sarugudu panchayat of Nathavaram mandal in Visakhapatnam district, on the proposed laterite mining project, passed off peacefully on Thursday. The police, who were present in large numbers, and the officials were at ease as the project proponents seemed to have brainwashed the people located on the hills on the benefits that would accrue to them...

Inclusion of Right to Information (RTI) Act in the revised syllabus of the state government schools is unlikely to see the light of day as recommendations made by the chief information commissioner (CIC) in this regard reached the Chief Minister's office only on November 11, barely about a few days before the syllabus of the next academic session is being finalized.  The CIC Padmapani Tiwari had recommended on October 24 to...

-The Hindu   With a view to laying down guidelines for disposal of mercy petitions, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to file a comprehensive affidavit giving details of all mercy petitions filed by death row convicts pending before the President of India and the Governors of various States. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya, while granting four weeks to the Additional Solicitor-General Harin Raval for filing the...

While Rahul Gandhi spoke of a woman delivering a baby once a week and 52 times a year in Uttar Pradesh according to the official record of the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) on Monday, youth Congress men in Lucknow were busy preparing an exhibition of glaring cases of corruption in the scheme at their state office.   The exhibition, based on an audit conducted in 12 blocks, is expected to start on...

To gain a foothold in forest areas first Maoist rebels, who resurfaced in Telangana, are now planning to start a new students' organisation called Adivasi Vidyarthi Sangam (AVS) to mobilise tribal students to fight for their rights and welfare activities. The formation of AVS is being seen as a part of the overall Maoist strategy to revive the defunct mass organisations, which helped spread revolutionary activity. Information culled from different sources indicates...