Monday’s polling to Kerala’s first all-tribal panchayat, Damalakkudy, in Idukki district would be marked in history for the elborate preparations underway to get a reclusive tribal community to participate in democracy. EDamalakkudy, 38 km from Munnar hill station, has no motorable road, no power or communication network. There are 700-odd families of Muthuvan Scheduled Tribe, which live in small settlements at EDamalakkudy, situated amidst dense forest. To fill the communication gap at the...

Fifty-five thousand metric tonnes of food grains rotted in Punjab alone and thousands of tonnes more across the nation. The pictures of rotting grains might have shocked us, but not Adesh Pratap Singh, the Food Minister of Punjab and certainly not Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The documents accessed by CNN-IBN through an RTI revealed that this rot was expected. A copy of a letter by Punjab's...

In a shocking revelation, more than 50% children interviewed for a survey in India to determine the extent of violence against them said they had faced sexual abuse. In total, 12,500 school kids in 13 states between five and 18, as well as otherwise, took part in the research. The report by Plan International, a children's organization here, said India is dubiously ranked third among 13 countries in terms of estimated...

The 3-1 conclusion of the POSCO panel that all clearances to the Rs 50,000-crore project be scrapped should haven’t come as a surprise to at least one person: Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. The panel’s report now wends its way through the Ministry’s official expert committees. For, Ramesh had handpicked these members and each of the three who opposed the project has, in the past, taken clearly stated positions on infrastructure projects,...

Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan proposed amendment of various provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 on Monday. The society submitted its objection to the drafted rules to the commissioner of Rajasthan Parambhik Shiksha Parishad at Shiksha Sankul. It said private schools should not be given additional responsibility for providing free text books to the children of reserved category. The society also opposed Part...