The RTI Act needs strengthening, but activists oppose the government's proposals as they suspect its intentions. AN Act is usually amended to address certain concerns that come up during its implementation. However, the beneficiaries of the Right to Information Act, 2005, oppose any amendment to the Act, because they suspect the government's intentions. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) admitted to considering 11 amendments to the Act in a letter to...

Experts show how electricity for poor people is possible Is electricity for all a pipe dream? Should we forget about electricity for all until we are able to provide more basic amenities like drinking water, nutritious food, education and healthcare?   India is home to the largest number of people without electricity. Half of Indian households do not have access to power, which constitute a third of the world's population without electricity. Though...

What are the poor most concerned about? After meeting families in 175 Indian villages in the last decade, Anirudh Krishna, says the poor's greatest worry is their children's future. With a manner of a school teacher, Professor Krishna, who teaches at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in the US, has led a team meeting poor families to find out why poverty persists. The research also includes...

Muslims' enrolment at secondary level of education is less than that of the scheduled castes, a government survey has indicated. Giving this information in Rajya Sabha in a written reply, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that the report of 64th Round (2007-08) of National Sample Survey (NSS) indicates that Muslims' enrolment at secondary level is 10.2 per cent of the total enrolments. The survey said that the same for the scheduled...

Meritorious students from 27 districts to be covered this financial year Monthly pension of freedom fighters enhanced from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 8,000 The Assam government will provide scholarships of Rs. 2,000 each to 2 lakh meritorious students belonging to tea-tribe communities, the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, as well as other communities living in the border areas, chars (sand isles of the Brahmaputra river) and other economically and...