-IANS   An eerie silence welcomes me as I walk down the row of houses, not a soul in sight. I know that from every tiny window in these little brick-walled units, watchful, suspicious eyes follow my every move. They are assessing me, wondering if I am friend or foe. But then, in these thickly forested parts, the lines of distinction blurred many years ago. And their life could depend on the accuracy...

At the technical level, the question is whether the technology deployed for identification will return answers that are unambiguous. THE Unique Identification (UID) project, the national project of the Government of India, aims to give a unique 12-digit number – called Aadhaar – to every citizen of the country, a random number that is generated and linked to a person's demographic and biometric information. The key word is “unique”. Launched in...

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set...

Blackboard 2002: A for attack; B for bomb; C for cops… Blackboard 2012: A for apple; B for ball; C for cat… Jamshedpur, Nov. 20: More than 500 students in some 15 primary and middle schools in forest villages of a reclaimed Saranda in West Singhbhum are looking forward to a paradigm shift in their ABCs of academic life, courtesy the CRPF. The central paramilitary force has taken up the daunting task of...

Hydropower projects in tribal Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti district are witnessing stiff opposition from local residents. But their protests are going unheard due to lack of political will. Tribals are up in arms to save their fertile lands and natural source of irrigation, but their concerns have gone unheard in government corridors, as the state government is approving projects one after another in tribal areas. On Friday, over 200 residents of Tindi...