With the Delhi High Court keeping an eye on violation of labour laws at Commonwealth Games construction sites, the Delhi government has decided to approach the workers by organising awareness camps. These camps will be organised between May 1 and 7 at all nine districts of the city, the court was told on Wednesday. The workers would be told about their rights relating to wages, safety measures and other beneficial...

The Central Vigilance Committee on Public Distribution System (PDS) headed by Justice (rtd) DP Wadhwa has come down heavily on the Public Districution Syetem in its recently submitted report. The committee has ruled that the whole system of procurement and distribution of food grains is built on corruption and its benefits to the poor are low. His prescription: Innovative methods to improve the system. "The whole system has to be...

A MARRIAGE hall in Kolkata is packed with 1200 of India’s poorest citizens. They have trekked here from all over West Bengal, from remote forests and dingy alleyways, from Howrah, East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas. They have come because there is a story to tell, a brutal story that may otherwise never be told. Finally, there are people willing to hear. These people may never bring justice; may never be...

All eyes are now on Orissa High Court following the Lok Pal’s recommendation for a thorough probe into the land deal for the Rs 15,000-crore university proposed to be set up in Puri district by London-based Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources Corporation. The high court is expected to deliver its judgment on the issue of acquiring land along the Puri-Konark marine drive by the government for Vedanta Resources Corporation to set up...

I want you to consider some well-known, oft-repeated facts: * About half of India’s children are malnourished, a record poorer than the world’s poorest area, sub-Saharan Africa. * India is home to a quarter of the world’s hungry — about 230 million people — according to the World Food Programme. * India is the world’s second-largest grower of rice and wheat, and more than 50 million tonnes of foodgrains lie in...