The Union environment and forests ministry (MoEF) has taken a position countering the Union government's department of personnel and training (DoPT) and stuck to its demand for a CBI inquiry in the forestry scam cases in Haryana. In a letter written to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the environment ministry has reiterated its view that severe violations of forests and wildlife laws were committed in the three cases - digging a...

-The Economic Times Rains in the last few days across the country excluding the southern peninsula have affected the standing wheat crop. Harvesting has already been delayed by a fortnight in Punjab, the wheat bowl of the country. State governments are advising farmers not to bring the moisture-laden wheat to market yards for sale.  "At isolated places, there are instances of water-logging. It will not impact production with harvesting at its peak...

As the final bell goes off in my daughter's school, a ripple of anticipation runs through a group of children waiting at the gate. Tiny hands stretch through eager to touch those on the other side. For an instant, a single handshake seems to bridge an insurmountable distance, the meeting of the children of the two Indias: one that is elite, entitled and exclusive and the other that is deprived,...

The judgment last week by the Supreme Court, making it mandatory for the government, local authorities and private schools to reserve 25% of their seats for the economically weaker sections, is one more step in making the right to education a reality for Indian children. The road, however, is long and the journey arduous, as there are still millions who face barriers in accessing education. The Right of Children to Free...

 Poverty could not rein in the spirit of this youth and hold him back from fighting his way through all odds.  Unlike many youngsters in his neighbourhood who had resigned to fate, Monoranjan Bera worked hard to change his destiny. Bera has ranked 50th in the IIT entrance examination to a joint MSc-PhD programme.  Bera, living in a single room tenement at Bhatapukur in Kharagpur, can serve as an example to youngsters.  "One...