EVEN though the Right to Information Act guarantees citizens their right to know and expose corruption in government offices, increasing attacks on RTI activists have put this most important right in jeopardy. The RTI Act was enacted after a long struggle by civil rights organisations. However, those who dare question the ways of the powers that be and expose them are eliminated in cold-blooded murders. The manner in which Amit...

A team of central officials and experts will visit Jharkhand to assess the drought situation, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said in the Lok Sabha today, a day after Raj Bhavan added four names to the existing list of 12 parched districts. Tomorrow, the central team will go to Bihar, which has also recorded deficit rainfall this monsoon, on a similar mission. Pawar’s assurance came in response to a question raised by...

Rs. 3,000 each awarded to 78 persons who had worked at three sites After a long struggle, 78 persons who had worked at three sites in Jharkhand under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, but had not been paid, have secured compensation for their ordeal. Deputy Labour Commissioner Mahendra Murmu awarded Rs. 3,000 per worker at a Labour Court here on Monday. This is seen as a breakthrough for the aggrieved workers,...

Allaying fears of minority groups about the Right to Education Act, HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the government has no intention to interfere with minority rights which are guaranteed under the Article 30 of the Constitution. Speaking at a meeting on RTE organised by JAMiat-Ulama-e-Hind, Sibal said his ministry will issue regulations to deal with minority fears on RTE and if need, the RTE Act will even be...

The United Nations warned Wednesday that a food shortage could threaten the lives of thousands of people trapped in floodwater in northwestern Pakistan as six U.S. army helicopters joined the relief effort. A U.S. embassy spokesman said four CH-47 Chinook and two UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopters arrived in Pakistan Wednesday as part of the U.S. government's continued assistance to Pakistan for humanitarian-relief operations. Bad weather and fresh rain hampered helicopter flights, which...