-PTI The Haryana Government has formulated a rural water policy for the state for the year 2012 in order to save precious drinking water by preventing wastage due to unmetered connections and open taps. A spokesman of the Public Health Engineering Department said that this policy has been formulated keeping in view the present scenario of wastage of water through unmetered connections provided to consumers in rural areas, which are being billed...

-BBC Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste system and despite laws to protect them, they still face widespread discrimination in India, writes Natalia Antelava. As the glass flew across the room and straight into the wall, a dozen or so men stopped drinking their tea. Dr Vinod Sonkar threw money on the counter - enough for the tea he drank and the glass he had smashed - and walked out. Dr...

-The Business Standard When the anti-Posco brigade celebrated the seventh anniversary of their agitation against the mega steel venture of the South Korean behemoth at Dhinkia near Paradip in Odisha last week, the noise they made against the project was drowned by the murmurs of a split in their ranks. After fighting against the project for the last seven years, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) seems to be disintegrating, with many of...

-The United Nations 20 June 2012 – World leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups have come together in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take part in the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20).   In our Seven Issues, Seven Experts series, UN officials tell us more about the key issues being discussed at the conference and how we can contribute to make our...

-IANS Mathura's child welfare system is marred by poor sanitation and living standards, dilapidated buildings, ineffective staff and irregular adoptions, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) says. The situation came to light Friday when a five-member NCPCR team inspected a juvenile observation home, an orphanage and a beggar's home - all run by the Uttar Pradesh government - in the Hindu holy town. At the State Observation Home, which had...