HETA, India – At the entrance to this village in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, a large pond glistened under the bright autumn sun. Yellow and blue lilies surrounded it. A tailor was stitching clothes outside his shop while a few boys nearby were playing carrom on the lid of a rusted oil barrel. It was a tranquil, rustic setting – a candidate for a landscape painting, it seemed. But it...

A panel set up to review norms for no-go areas that will protect CERTain areas from commercial activity is likely to recommend mining should be disallowed in all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Sources in the government told TOI that the committee, headed by the Union environment and forests secretary, is likely to close the debate over no-go areas as it is not inclined to reassess protected areas...

Be prepared for power outages ahead as coal supplies to 30 out of India's 95 thermal power plants have reached alarming levels.  Out of these 30 power stations that produce 26,320 mega-watt (mw) of power, 25 plants are running on less than four days of coal stocks, according to data available with the power ministry's advisory wing, Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Of the 25, five are from National Thermal Power Corp...

-The Indian Express SC rightly upholds equity in private schools — now govt schools should pull their socks up The Supreme Court has upheld the Right to Education Act and its 25 per cent quota for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in all schools — public, private and in-between (except minority unaided institutions). It dismissed the petition of CERTain private schools, which argued that the directive to admit these children was unconstitutional,...

The attack on corruption should not turn into disregard and contempt for institutions. The educated middle class in India is naturally exercised over the corruption that is widely prevalent in public life. With growing concern over corruption there is growing indignation. This indignation is expressed on various public occasions, sometimes passionately, but often in a purely routine manner. Every public institution and every public office, civil as well as military, is...