Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh. IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children...

Why is it that the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption does not seek to have the Lokpal cover NGOs, corporate houses and the corporate media? Gautam Navlakha (gnavlakha@gmail.com) is a member of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi.   It would be churlish to dismiss “Team Anna’s” mass mobilisation which is an assertion of our collective right to protest. This is especially so in view of the fact that after having waited...

-The Hindu   It is not a car factory where you can switch off the systems: NPCIL chairman The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) ran the risk of being seriously damaged with blockades creating a major impediment in ensuring that the plant systems functioned at a minimal level, scientists warned on Friday. “In a recent road blockade, work on the plant was halted. It is not a plant which can be just switched on...

Six years of RTI’s existence has empowered the Indian citizen as a  proactive partner in governance like never before since Independence. But the government has not been able to digest it, ever since its implementation. Instead of trying to dilute or scuttle the Act, it’s time the government abides by Section (4) norms of ‘suo motu’ disclosure Apart from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose innocence and ‘clean image’ stands exposed thanks...

-The Times of India   A spate of violent strikes in Kashmir indicates the Valley's tenuous security situation. Targeting security personnel and ordinary civilians, the attacks in Srinagar and Bijbehara seemed designed to send out the message that militancy is alive and kicking. Their timing is as significant. They come on the heels of chief minister Omar Abdullah's push to have the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) revoked from certain districts....