If Haryana were a country, it would be fifth on the gold medal winners’ list at Delhi 2010 — after Australia, England, Canada and India-minus-Haryana. Fifteen of India’s 38 gold at the Commonwealth Games — nearly 40 per cent of the country’s best-ever haul — have been won by athletes from Haryana. For perspective, Haryana has 2 per cent of the country’s population and occupies 1.37 per cent of its land...

Taking a serious note on the suicides due to the purported harassment or embarrassment caused by the collection agents of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), Minister for Rural Development, IKP, Pensions, NREGP and Self-Help Groups, Vatti Vasanth Kumar stated that the government was contemplating making an Act to streamline the operations of MFIs in AP. Talking to media persons in the New Delhi, the minister said that the government would frame rules and...

Poverty and exploitation forced some tribal women in eastern Uttar Pradesh to turn to Naxals, who proved to be no different. Leading a pathetic life after being sexually exploited and abandoned by the extremists, eight tribal women have now sought CM Mayawati's intervention to help in their rehabilitation. Hailing from the Naxal-affected Kaimur range, which includes Robertsganj, Mirzapur, Sonebhadra and Chandauli, these women had joined the banned outfits between 2000-2005. Most...

Delhi is an anxious city this monsoon season, struggling to meet an onerous deadline. Preparations continue at a feverish pace for the 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG), which will bear down on the Indian metropolis October 3-14, along with some 8,500 athletes from the 71 states and territories that were once part of the British Empire. Around-the-clock construction and spells of heavy monsoon rain have turned Delhi into a swirl of mud...

In the long speeches made at the opening ceremony of the CW games, every important individual, department or institution that made a contribution, was acknowledged. Did anyone hear a word about the workers who made these world-class games possible? Maybe it was just a slip or maybe it was not considered necessary. Anyway, the workers were not there for the speeches, having been driven out of the capital just a...