-The Hindu   Ram Dayal Munda, a key figure in creation of Jharkhand, passes away Musician, linguist, writer, scholar, educationist, institution-builder, tribal activist — and a key figure in creation of Jharkhand — Ram Dayal Munda passed away in Ranchi on September 30 at the age of 72. I saw him last on March 30 at a conference of the All-India Adivasi Mahasabha: as the three-day conclave concluded at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here,...

-The Hindu   Supporting the cause of the Manipuri civil rights activist, who has been on fast for the past 11 years demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, several organisations came together here on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi to launch a nation-wide “Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign.” The campaign began at Jantar Mantar with several people coming out in support of the cause. “It is the first time in...

Nearly five lakh college and university teachers are still waiting for arrears under the Sixth Pay Revision the human resource development ministry announced in December 2008 with retrospective effect from January 2006. Most states have implemented the revised package without paying the arrears as they are waiting for assistance from the ministry, which had told them it would bear 80 per cent of the additional cost for the first four years...

-The Telegraph   Mamata Banerjee tonight used her strongest language yet to condemn “the Jungle Mahal mafia” and virtually warned of a rethink on the undeclared ceasefire in the Maoist zone after the leader of a local party was shot dead in West Midnapore. Although the chief minister sought to paint the killers as the mafia, not Maoists, she ripped into the rebels’ supporters in Universities in Calcutta, reflecting the distance she has...

A report by an expert group on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has suggested wide-ranging institutional reforms to regulate the public and the private sectors to ensure assured quality and rational pricing of healthcare services. The group, set up by the Planning Commission to develop a blue print and investment plan to meet the human resource requirements to achieve health for all by 2020, focuses on rational use of drugs. The extensive...