In a congested part of Patna, capital of India's Bihar state, stands a striking yellow building - a 100-year-old mansion that has clearly seen better days. Inside it, in a small dark room, a young bearded cleric is reading out sermons from the Muslim holy scriptures to a group of boys seated cross-legged on the floor. They are in their late teens, some are wearing skull caps and they all listen...

Biotech technicians neither have the knowledge of gene ecology nor the expertise in multiple disciplines.    After the minister of environment Jairam Ramesh announced a moratorium on Bt brinjal, article after article in the media has denounced the decision, saying such decisions should be left to ‘scientists.’ The issue is however not science vs anti-science. It is reductionist science vs systems science. The moratorium took into account the best of science. Many...

The countdown for implementation of the historic Right to Education Act from April 1 has begun. Complete with a new message - `elementary education of equitable quality is now the right of every child' - and a short awareness film, HRD minister Kapil Sibal has asked chief ministers to cooperate in universalising elementary education. Though Sibal has chosen to launch RTE from Delhi instead of some educationally deprived state, his...

A new drive has started to bring development to the remote north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. In a letter from the region, the BBC's former India correspondent Mark Tully says there are fears that it will undermine the traditional tribal culture of the area and alienate the population. Driving from the east of Arunachal Pradesh to its oldest town, Pasighat, I was made all too aware of the state's underdevelopment....

Machineries available for redressal of grievance underutilised, it says  Work of gendering institutions, workplaces yet to be undertaken The study was analysed at a day-long seminar organised by ILO Although great efforts have been made to ensure equality for women in the Indian society — viewed from a broad perspective — it is evident that the gender concerns are on the periphery, than woven into all agendas of both the employer organisations...