-The Hindu Noting that whistleblowers who raise their voice against corruption in government need to be protected, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Centre a week’s time to report back on the time required for setting up a foolproof interim mechanism to receive complaints and protect the lives of whistleblowers till a law is enacted in Parliament. “Till the time there is a law, you [the Union government] create a mechanism...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: Childbirths at home, no immunisation. Allegedly, this continues to happen in capital Ranchi, within city limits in a locality some 2km from Khel Gaon. A Jan Sunvai or district-level public hearing, held today under the aegis of National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), Jharkhand, had stunning disclosures like these from lower-tier urban healthcare workers, which may have ringing implications at a time Ranchi is eyeing the Centre's coveted Smart City...

-India Today West Bengal: "Kerosene is sold at Rs 40 per litre in the market. Now the money will be saved, thanks to the solar lamps. We are really grateful to the solar aid," said Kasinath Mahata, one of the villagers. It was celebration time for the people of Pandri, a village in the Purulia district of West Bengal, illuminated with lightening after years of hassle. The excitement doubled when the village...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A rough comparison between a government survey of all the country's campuses and a more limited scan earlier by the Rajinder Sachar committee suggests that Muslims' participation in higher education has seen little improvement over the past decade. Sachar, a retired judge, told The Telegraph the latest findings buttressed his view that the UPA government had failed to adequately implement its educational schemes for the minorities, announced after...

-Livemint.com According to the environment ministry data, 391 people and 39 elephants died in 2014-15 across India, as a result of the man-elephant conflict New Delhi: As many as 391 people died in 2014-15 due to human-elephant conflicts, triggered mainly by factors like habitat loss and shrinkage and degradation of their range. But the good news is that compared with the last two years, the number of deaths of both elephants and...