Boommi Gowda used to fear the night. Her vision fogged by glaucoma, she could not see by just the dim glow of a kerosene lamp, so she avoided going outside where king cobras slithered freely and tigers carried off neighborhood dogs. But things have changed at Gowda's home in the remote southern village of Nada. A solar-powered lamp pours white light across the front of the mud-walled hut she shares with...

One of India’s most distinguished economists, Suresh Tendulkar (70), passed away at a private hospital in the city on Tuesday morning. He was former chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council and also a former part-time chief of the National Statistical Commission. Tendulkar, who was admitted to Prayag Hospital in Deccan Gymkhana following cardiac arrest on June 2, breathed his last around 11 am. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and deputy chief minister...

72-year-old Hazare, who has lost 1.5 kg in the past three days, said there was no need for anyone to worry about his health as he can go with the fast for another seven days As his fast-unto-death on the Lokpal issue entered the third day, Gandhian Anna Hazare on Thursday stuck to the demand for a joint committee of civil society members and government representatives to draft a strong Lokpal...

The last rites of Ajit Bhattacharjea, one of the towering figures of Indian media, were performed here on Tuesday after a large number of his friends and admirers paid rich tributes to him. Mr. Bhattacharjea, a leading figure of the right to information movement, died at his Panchsheel Enclave residence on Monday after prolonged illness. He was 87. The last rites were performed by his son at the Lodhi crematorium. BJP leader L.K....

THE Tamil Nadu government introduced with much fanfare the samathuva mayanam (common graveyard) concept during the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime with the proclaimed goal of ending all caste-based discrimination at burial-cum-cremation grounds. An official announcement was made that panchayats which set up samathuva mayanams would get an “incentive grant” of Rs.1 lakh for promoting communal harmony. A few panchayats had received the incentive when the government appeared to beat a hasty...