The Bijanbari bridge collapse has brought to the fore the lack of basic amenities at the hill hospitals, whose staff were yesterday praised by the chief minister for their efficiency in tackling the emergency that arose out of the accident. But the healthcare system needs more than just praise. Basic equipment like CT scan and MRI machines have not yet been installed at the Darjeeling district hospital while the Bijanbari rural...

The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president, M. Karunanidhi, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday and discussed, among other things, the Kudankulam atomic power project in Tamil Nadu vis-a-vis the ongoing agitation by the locals apprehending safety. According to informed sources, while Mr. Karunanidhi sought to emphasise the need for the Centre to allay the fears of the local villagers...

-The Hindu   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday criticised the Central government for seeking to reduce States into the status of “glorified municipal corporations.” In her address to the National Development Council, which met in New Delhi, the Chief Minister, whose speech was read out by Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam in absentia, said that the NDC was a forum to consult with State Chief Ministers, as equal partners in the process...

Vilas Bhagwan Pote grins as he recalls his election as sarpanch of Ralegan Siddhi, Anna Hazare’s village in Ahmednagar district, 11 years ago. “I was the traitor, the bad guy,” he jokes. “I openly defied Anna because I felt he was wrong.” Pote, a Dalit charmakar (cobbler) then in his 30s, had been unhappy as the 2000 panchayat polls drew close. As always, Anna had nominated a new executive body for the...

The Election Commission (EC) of India’s historic decision on Thursday to disqualify an elected member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly from contesting again for three years, for furnishing wrong information on poll expenditure, is expected to have far-reaching ramifications as it becomes the guiding principle for other high-profile cases pending before it. Umlesh Yadav of the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal has been barred from completing the remaining four months of her...