Rampant illegal iron ore mining in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts has caused severe damage to agriculture and horticulture activities, as well as spreading of mining related diseases among the people of the region, a study has found.    The micro-level environmental impact assessment study conducted in the two districts by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and education (ICFRE) also expressed concern over large-scale damages due to violations of environmental norms.  It recommended...

Three bills the Centre has lined up to regulate higher education have been described as “draconian” by private institutions, which fear their enactment will bring the segment under a “police raj”. Two of the bills provide for jail terms and stiff fines to ensure that colleges and universities obtain accreditation before — and not after — starting courses and refrain from making exaggerated claims to attract students. For instance, under the “unfair...

-Sify News   A single bamboo stick holds the thatched roof together, the discoloured floor serves as both bench and chair, the kids sit in neat rows and a man sits on a printed mattress. It is from humble rooms like this that a quiet education revolution is unravelling in this eastern Uttar Pradesh district that was associated in public memory not long ago for alleged involvement of some of its youth...

-Righttoinformation.info   The NCPRI, in collaboration with Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), JOSH, Pardarshita and National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)organised camps for public consultations and registering grievances in Delhi. Two days camps on the 15th and 16th of December were held in Malviya Nagar, Trilokpuri, Nandnagri and Takiyan Kalekhan. The camps concluded in an Open Forum with representatives from political parties and citizen groups to discuss the essential features of a Grievance...

Seventy-seven schools run by the Pune Municipal Corporation do not have sanitation facilities in tune with the norms set by the Union ministry of rural development's department of drinking water supply, a Right to Information Act (RTI) application by P M Shah Foundation has found. Lack of proper sanitation facilities was one of the reasons girls dropped out of school. The information was sought from the civic education board. The...