-The Hindu   Signalling an end to the practice in rural Maharashtra of naming a girl child Nakusha (unwanted), especially if the family was expecting the birth of a boy, the authorities will “rename” 266 such girls as Aishwarya (wealth) on Saturday. “The Government has identified 266 girls named Nakusha in Satara district and organised a renaming ceremony tomorrow [On Saturday],” Satara District Collector N. Ramaswami told PTI over telephone. The function has been...

-The Telegraph   The Maharashtra Government said it would take “credible action” against the Lavasa township project after Bombay High Court today told it to “make its stand clear”. The state government has said it will take action in two weeks. Building work was stopped in November last year when the Union environment ministry showcaused Lavasa Corporation for starting construction without its clearance. On June 10 this year, the ministry imposed five conditions that...

-IANS   India's mammoth exercise to issue a unique identification (UID) number to each of its 1.2 billion population has attracted the attention of many nations, and diplomats got a glimpse of what changes in governance could be brought about from the project's pioneer Nandan Nilekani himself.  Nilekani told the 100 odd diplomats from several embassies based in the capital Wednesday that the UID Authority of India's effort was to provide an instrument...

It has been a long and difficult road to justice for the tribal residents of this village in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri district The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country's history. The tribals were called ‘rakshas' (demons), ‘asuras', and what not. They were slaughtered in large numbers, and the survivors and their descendants were degraded, humiliated, and all kinds of atrocities inflicted on...

-The Times of India   HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday expressed concern about the failure of big states in implementing the Right to Education Act. He was speaking at the state education ministers' conference on chalking out a community mobilization programme for RTE. "It will be a historic failure, if we have passed the Act but not implemented." Sibal said. So far, 20 states have notified RTE rules. However, big states like...