Women in Chennai can feel safer about venturing out alone; government statistics are on their side. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on crime in India in 2009, Chennai ranks 34th among 35 cities across the country when it comes to crimes and offences committed against women. While Delhi, Hyderabad , Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Mumbai take the top five slots, Chennai is penultimate on the list, followed by...

A number of questions on the Unique Identification (UID) project continue to remain unanswered while the project itself is necessitated by the government's policy shift to play an indirect rather than direct role in providing services, a panel of researchers told journalists on the sidelines of a public talk on the subject at St. Xavier's College here on Saturday. Usha Ramanathan, researcher on jurisprudence, poverty and rights, said it was not...

Charged particles from beyond solar system possibly affect the pace, but the extent is not clear The role of the cosmic rays has been highlightedin a paper by the former ISRO Chairman, U.R. Rao Dr. Rao points to a nine per cent reduction in the intensity of cosmic rays during the past 150 years The impact of cosmic rays on global warming needs to be assessed. Are charged particles coming from beyond the...

Activists and researchers today raised doubts over security of data being collected for the Unique Identification (UID)project and its public utility. "The personal information being collected for the UID would be stored in a central database system without assuring protection against data theft. There could be a possibility of profiling, tracking and surveillance with the help of the information," Usha Ramanathan, an independent law researcher said today at a press conference. There...

The environment ministry today released a paper by a senior Indian space scientist that highlights the role of cosmic rays in global warming and attempts to rekindle a 13-year debate on natural factors heating the planet. The scientific review, by Udupi Ramachandra Rao, a cosmic ray physicist and former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), also claims the UN climate change agency overestimated the role of greenhouse gases on...