Over the past three years, the number of attacks on schools has seen a steep rise. The argument advanced by the Naxals is that schools have become police stations and security forces take cover here. To substantiate their claim they have never attacked a school when children were in it and attacks have always taken place when the school premises were closed. Security personnel who battle the Naxals however claim that...

Expressing concern at a large quantity of foodgrains rotting in the FCI godowns across the country, the CPI-M today demanded universal coverage of the people under the Public Distribution System (PDS) for proper utilisation of available food stocks. The government should consider universal coverage of the people under the PDS by dilution the criterian of APL or BPL for not only full utilisation of available foodgrains, but also to rein in...

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...

Complaints have reached the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MMA) that as in Andhra Pradesh, in Bihar too, banks have refused to allow tens of thousands of Muslim students to open scholarship accounts. On July 28, the MMA wrote to all State Chief Secretaries directing them to facilitate the opening of “no frills, nil balance” accounts by minority students. This followed feedback that in Andhra Pradesh banks had turned away as many...

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...