This is a real story. In the early 1980s, a senior editor of a national newspaper met a state Congress leader and made a report out of that frank conversation, which made sensational disclosures about the dictatorial way Indira Gandhi was running the Congress at that time. The Congress leader, however, had argued that the entire conversation was off-the-record and, therefore, not meant for publication. The newspaper was in agreement...

Although new HIV infections show a downward trend in countries of the World Health Organisation's South-East Asia Region, particularly India, Thailand, Nepal and Myanmar, HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health problem. Perhaps the most vulnerable group are children with HIV/AIDS, whose number has increased by 46 per cent between 2001 and 2009. Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is possible by 2015 and WHO is committed to this goal. On...

‘Several interventions for high risk groups have been taken up in Bagalkot' There is an urgent need to involve elected representatives, especially women at the gram panchayat and taluk panchayat levels to conduct awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS, according to Ravi Kittur, a social worker and councillor at the ART Centre in Bijapur district hospital. Mr. Kittur attributes high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in a large number of people in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts...

Younger widows seem open to idea of remarriage, says study The widows in Braj, a region around Vrindavan town in Uttar Pradesh that provides shelter to probably the largest number of widows in the country, are happier there than in their homes in villages, and most of them have no intention of returning. They also seem to be veering away from traditional beliefs on how widows should live and what they...

Under unrelenting pressure to act against corruption, the government on Monday swung into action. It said it would slap show-cause notices on 85 licence holders asking why their licences should not be cancelled for violating eligibility norms. It will also ask the ministry of corporate affairs to check if Swan Telecom acted as a front, as alleged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The companies facing show-cause include Uninor,...