Over 250 activists, academics, intellectuals and democratic institutions have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh demanding that medical attention be immediately provided to Adivasi school teacher, Soni Sori, who is currently in custody in Raipur Central Jail. NAC members Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and Harsh Mander, poet Meena Kandaswamy and film-maker Anand Patwardhan are amongst the signatories to the letter. The text of the open letter...

-The Deccan Herald In a decision that is likely to reveal the names of judges against whom complaints have been filed in the Law Ministry, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Law Ministry to make public the forwarding letters attached with such complaints that are forwarded to the Supreme Court and High Courts. The transparency panel gave this direction while hearing the RTI plea of activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who...

Rural secondary school students in the Northeast have better reading and arithmetic skills than the rest of the nation, an education survey has revealed, though the numerical knowledge in some states of the region is below the national average. The survey was conducted by volunteers of the Annual Status of Education Report under a Delhi-based NGO, Pratham, for the Union human resource development ministry. Among the Northeast states, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland,...

Celebrities readily accept government's offer to enter Rajya Sabha as 'nominated' members. But when it comes to attending House proceedings, they - barring a couple of them - prefer to keep themselves away from the very process which shapes country's fate. Poor attendance records of the celebrities including filmmakers, actors and singers during Parliamentary sessions present a grim picture of the practice of nominating those who are 'active' in their respective...

-The Economic Times Prime minister Manmohan Singh is meeting a group of ministers including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Food Minister KV Thomas and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to arrive at a consensus on trade policies especially in sugar and cotton exports. Recently, Pawar had criticized the export policies of cotton and sugar. The sugar export is a contentious issue as even after having a surplus production and international...