-Outlook Raipur: Chhattisgarh has been selected for this year's prestigious National Literacy Award for the first time since its formation in November 2000. "For the first time after formation of the state, Chhattisgarh has been selected for the Literate Indian National Literacy Award as it has attained remarkable achievements in the field of literacy," an official statement said today. "Korea district and its village panchayat Patna will also get this award along with...

-The Hindu Health activists demand public disclosure of maternal death reviews and the remedial action taken Twenty-two-year-old Kousalya (name changed), a Scheduled Caste woman in a remote village in Karnataka, was in an abusive marriage. She had suffered a late miscarriage in her first pregnancy and had been very careful with seeking antenatal care early in this pregnancy. She had moderate anaemia which was not identified or treated at the taluka hospital....

-The Hindu Some hydel projects that claim exemption from environmental clearance on the basis of size provide a misleading picture of their impact Why would more than four gram Panchayats, environmental activists from three States, the presiding swami of the Subramanya Temple, botanists, fisheries scientists, and institutions like the Indian Institute of Science oppose a small hydel project in a remote corner of the Western Ghats in Karnataka? Aren't small hydel projects...

-The Hindu Eminent sociologist Virginius Xaxa will be chairman of committee If UPA-I constituted the Sachar Committee to map the condition of Muslims in the country, on Saturday, UPA-II set up a high level committee on Saturday to prepare a position paper on the current socio-economic, health and educational status of tribals that will also "suggest policy initiatives as well as effective outcome-oriented measures to improve development indicators and strengthen public service...

-The Hindu Raipur: Water contamination in flood-affected Panchayats of Abujhmarh in Narainpur district of south Chhattisgarh may result in a huge death toll, it is feared. The secretary of one of the affected Panchayats, Kamluram Netam, has told journalists of Narainpur that several Panchayats of the area are "severely affected and the death toll will go up." So far, more than 20 persons have died due to water-borne diseases, the locals said....