-PTI NEW DELHI: In a blow to brick-kiln industry and road contractors, the National Green Tribunal has banned digging of earth across the country for making bricks and roads without prior environment clearance (EC). A bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani has directed the chief secretaries of all the states and union territories to ensure that its interim order is adhered to. "We restrain any person, company and authority to carry out any...

-The Hindustan Times A people who have never fought each other in history are today bitterly estranged, fearful and angry. ‘Not even during the Partition riots of 1947 did a drop of blood flow in our villages', they repeatedly told us. And today, some 50 lie dead, and 50,000 have fled their homes in terror. Cramped into makeshift camps in madrasas Sand mosques, many resolve never to return to the land...

-FirstPost.com It's a daily scene at the busy Gariahat crossing in Kolkata. Traffic is barreling down in all directions. Minibuses make screeching right turns at breakneck speed. The tramline in the middle of the street has been dug up and is a giant crater occupying half the road, marked by corrugated metal walls and little red flags. Taxis and autos dodge buses to try and squeeze by the construction onto a...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Country's rice production is projected to drop to 92.32 million tonnes in the Kharif season this year due to deficient rains in some states, but the overall foodgrain output is estimated to rise marginally to 129.32 million tonnes in the same period. The rice production stood at 92.76 million tonnes in the kharif (summer) season of the 2012-13 crop year (June-July), while total foodgrain output was estimated at 128.20...

Bihar Government's programme of distributing bicycles to school girls may be a modest intervention but is leading to big changes. A new research-based paper, brought out in August 2013, corroborates the success of the programme and testifies that it is leading to improved school enrollment of girls and arresting their dropout rates (See links below to read full paper and earlier studies on the subject).   Based on econometric and statistical models,...