-The Times of India SHIMLA: Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh's interest in buying LIC policies bear an interesting pattern over the past 10 years. These policies are at the heart of a controversy with allegations of money laundering levelled against him by the BJP. Before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the 78-year-old state Congress chief had only two LIC policies for himself, each with a premium barely one-hundredth of that...

-Outlook Rising income levels in rural areas have led to an unprecedented demand for protein-based food items, leading to sustained pressure in headline inflation, says a Crisil report. "Rising incomes in rural areas are fuelling greater spends on protein products such as milk, eggs and meat in the hinterland. Overall spending in the country on protein food doubled to Rs 2 lakh crore in 2009-10 from 2004-05. Two-thirds, or Rs 1.33 trillion,...

-The Hindu Allotted fake Provident Fund accounts by contractors Workers hired through multiple contractors by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) here have alleged that companies have been denying them their minimum wages and have allotted fake Provident Fund and health insurance accounts to siphon off their money. Questioned about this, officials said that while they were aware of the workers’ complaints, they had not yet blacklisted any company, despite the fact that...

-Outlook Out in our streets, disabled people feel the pain everyday The Gaping Holes     India yet to get a cohesive, standardised sign language     Barrier-free infrastructure yet to be implemented in public areas like bus stations, railway stations, schools, cinema halls     Lack of basic, inclusive civic facilities: no audio-enabled traffic signals, pavements with ramps, few disability-friendly toilets, negligible penalties     Poor functional entertainment accessibility, like no subtitling on local language TV channels     Reservation...

-The Pioneer A school shapes the future of a child. But according to a latest research, there is a need for 60 lakh qualified teachers in India. Sangeeta Yadav speaks with some experts to bring you a solution to this glaring problem  A degree does not qualify someone to become a teacher.  A teacher has to be a life long learner, researcher, pedagogy, must understand assessments and must be able to motivate...