Actors Nana Patekar and Makrand Anaspure distributed cheques of financial aid to as many as 113 families of farmers from Latur and Osmanabad districts of Marathwada, who have committed suicides, owing to drought and indebtedness. The kin of the deceased were given cheque of Rs 15,000 each at a function held in Latur on Saturday. “The challenge of drought is staring us in the face… I feel leaders like Sharad […]

The Government has finally given its nod for OROP or the one rank one pension demand of ex-servicemen but the din is far from over. The latest storm has been stirred by the mention of the word VRS and a proposal to exclude them from the OROP scheme. The Govt tried its best to pacify the protestors over the weekend. While Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar assured that these pending issues […]

Multi-dose vials of painkiller diclofenac used for human patients, has been banned in veterinary treatments so that vultures could be saved. In a major step, the Union Ministry of Health has banned multi-dose vials of human formulations of diclofenac, a painkilling drug that is responsible for the death of vultures in large numbers, reducing them to a critically endangered species in India and other Asian countries. The ban has come […]

Melbourne: Majority of the world seabird species have plastic in their gut and 99 percent will have gobbled down plastic by 2050, according to a new study. Researchers assessed how widespread the threat of plastic is for the world’s seabirds, including albatrosses, shearwaters and penguins, and found the majority of seabird species have plastic in their gut. Based on analysis of published studies since the early 1960s, the researchers found […]

There must have been about 120 people crammed into Room number 5, in Tata Institute of Social Sciences last evening. From window sills to the floor, every surface had a bottom resting on it. In true Mumbai fashion, everyone ‘adjusted’ and focused their attention upon the film being screened. Nakul Singh Sawhney’s documentary Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai is two hours and 16 minutes long. Not a single cellphone rang during that […]

New Delhi: At a small age when her friends go to school happily and live a tension-free life, something serious always worries little girl Dhuniya, even when her mother is around. The little village girl, in a viral video, could be seen bunking her classes and following someone. Numerous sleepless night passes but she keeps praying every moment for someone’s life. With tears in her two sparkling eyes she wakes […]

The statistics invoked in a new short film titled ‘Dying To Be Me’ are a brutal reminder that it is the economic shackles of being a woman in India that prove the most binding. According to this video, Indian women make up half the country’s population, contribute to 70% of its working house and yet just earn 10% of India’s salary and a miserable 1% of its wealth. ‘Dying To […]

Islamabad: Why was Pakistan created, asked a leading Pakistani daily on Friday, ruling that the country has strayed from the “unique vision” of protecting the rights of its minorities. An editorial in The News International, “A New Roadmap”, said this Independence Day “we need to talk about why this country was created and how far we have strayed from that aim”. Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah had declared in 1947 […]

It is the Independence Day weekend and quite naturally the I-day spirit is everywhere. From freedom to choose discount offers to freedom to sleep, almost every conceivable form of freedom is on offer right now. I decided to take this opportunity to assess the state of freedom of press in our country. As an Indian I have always been immensely proud of the constitutional encouragement that Press gets in the […]

“I was born in 1947, made out of hand-spun cotton on a charkha, dyed in the three colours of courage, peace and the earth. I symbolize Independence…” As India prepares to celebrate its 69th Independence Day on August 15, this powerful video has a poignant message for every Indian — ‘Freedom is the absolute truth… and in truth there is valour…’ Put beautifully in words by Priyan Redican and expressed […]