Karnataka has among the worst track records in the country in meeting the rights of tribal communities, the latest figures with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs reveal. Recently, the State Government opposed Unesco's nomination of the Western Ghats as a heritage site on the grounds that tribal rights could be violated, and that forest dwelling communities could even face eviction. However, Karnataka features at the bottom of the ranking of States...

Nearly 100 districts across the country listed as child-vulnerable areas Nearly 100 districts across the country have been listed as child-vulnerable areas wherein children are at a high risk of losing parental care and getting exposed to difficult circumstances, according to a new survey conducted by SOS Children's Villages of India, a non-government organisation that helps orphaned children. Koraput district in Orissa has the highest child vulnerability index followed by Balaghat district...

A marked jump in the number of Maoist kangaroo courts this year points to an expansion in rebel “guerrilla zones” and “liberated zones” in central and eastern India, government sources have said. The Maoists initially form “guerrilla areas” by pushing in militia and introducing the local people to their writ. These develop into “guerrilla zones” in the second stage and into “liberated zones” in the third. The so-called liberated zones in Maad...

Punjab's attempts at diversification from water-guzzling paddy hasn’t made much headway. With looming desertification and reverse flow from water-logged blocks having brackish groundwater to areas where the groundwater table is fast depleting, the need to diversify has been underlined since long. Even in a lean monsoon year (2009), there was a record harvest of the crop. Its acreage did not fall even last year when a major part of the paddy...

-PTI   A survey has claimed that 55 per cent of population in Bihar was malnourished and 70 per cent of women and children were anaemic due to low intake of food apparently due to poverty. "Bihar has attained 8-10 per cent growth rate due to development in tertiary sector, but 55 per cent of its people were suffering from malnourishment and 70 per cent of women and children were anaemic due...