What have illiterate tribals from remote Koraput district in Orissa got to do with eminent scientists in India? Well, there is a connect and this was revealed at the ongoing 99th Indian Science Congress when the Koraput tribals rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of the Indian scientific community. And the tribals were there because they had earned the pride of place with their unique efforts towards conservation of bio-diversity and...

-The Hindu   Say youths, accused of involvement in Jaipur blasts, declared innocent now Two-and-a-half years ago, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced in a national conference on internal security in New Delhi that the horrifying case of serial blasts in Jaipur on May 13, 2008 — in which 69 persons were killed — stood resolved with the arrest of “radical youths” in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as well as some Students Islamic...

Fourteen-year-old Shafat Ahmad works as a domestic helper in the house of a Srinagar-based government employee in Kashmir. His younger sister embroiders shawls in an unregistered textile venture in her native village of Beeru. "When my father first brought me here, my employer promised to send me to school," Shafat told IPS. Though he is keen to pursue his education, he has yet to attend a single class. The Ahmed siblings' story...

-PTI   The RTI Act needs to be looked into if it hinders governance, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Friday said. “...What the Prime Minister has said is that in certain areas if RTI is used in a way with a purpose of hindering governance then one has to look at that. “When Prime Minister says something, we accept it as the statement of the government. So there is no need to...

-The Economic Times   Government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, has led to labour shortages for the industry resulting in increased wage costs and hampering production, Ficci said today. The chamber, which has done a survey on the impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on the industry and the farm sector, has suggested that the scheme should be stopped during the peak agricultural season. Besides, "the...