Jharkhand embarked on its first panchayat polls in three decades on an encouraging note today, recording an impressive turnout in defiance of a few determined efforts by Maoist groups to disrupt the process at various places. Voters queued up from early morning, helping the state to notch up a poll percentage of 64.7 per cent with chief minister Arjun Munda’s home district of Seraikela-Kharsawan recording the highest turnout of 79 per...

HRD Ministry asks them to adopt random selection process Guidelines for admission in Schools, issued under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibit screening of children and interviewing their parents. The guidelines issued by the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry have also asked the Schools to adopt a random selection process. “The Schools have to adopt an admission procedure which is non-discriminatory, rational and transparent...

Prosen Sam is a beneficiary of land reforms. Once a landless labourer, his life changed after the Left Front government gave him a three-bigha plot in 1984. “I am still a farmer but my sons have their own businesses,” boasted the 65-year-old resident of Kurumba village in Birbhum, a proud participant in Friday’s rally by the Left Front’s farmer wings in Metro Channel. The meeting, attended by around 4,000 people from across...

Aiming to arrest the spread of Red terror in the country, the Union Cabinet cleared a Rs 3,300 crore special plan for 60 Naxal-affected districts across nine states to ensure overall development of these areas. Earlier, 35 districts were slated to receive the funds. Under the special plan -- Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Selected Tribal and Backward Districts -- each of the 60 Naxal-hit districts would get Rs 25 crore...

While many U.S. residents prepare for their annual Thanksgiving feast Thursday, one in six are at risk of hunger – including a quarter of all children in the country. Globally, 925 million people, or a little less than 15 percent of the world population, is undernourished. Ironically, Washington's efforts to alleviate hunger abroad may be more successful than at home, analysts say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's estimate last week that 49...