A social audit conducted by a group of researchers and activists in 12 villages of six gram panchayats in Odisha exposed that as much as 49 percent of wages are siphoned off by officials and middlemen in the system. Management of Information System (MIS) may be a necessary arrangement to bring transparency in the operation of MGNREGS, but not sufficient in checking corruption. A social audit conducted by a group […]
It has been termed “mini Dubai”, “mini Pakistan” and the birthplace of the Indian Mujahideen. Yet as Bhatkal returns to focus after the Hyderabad blasts, it shows no sign of the fault-lines that are said to be behind the rise of the IM. There is no communal tension in this coastal town in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka; it has no registered case of terror; the BJP has ample support; the police […]
In Pic :A homeless girl slept on the ground on a cold morning in New Delhi in January. My reaction to watching “Les Misérables” on stage in London in late 1985 was very different from my reaction when I saw it at the cinema in Delhi last week. In 1985 London, I was enthralled and moved by the spectacle. In 2013 Delhi, I was like, whatever. It’s true that the […]
In Pic :Hut of Primitive Tribes crushed by administration, hundreds homeless. Administration argues pulling down their huts will ensure ‘safety of wildlife’ A day after the Union government announced a Rs.100-crore grant for Chukutiya Bhunjia of Orissa, a primitive tribe which lives on the eastern border of Chhattisgarh, 30 huts of the Baigas, another primitive tribe, were razed to the ground by government officials in the western part of the […]
While still at the top of the GP growth table, the Chinese economy seems to be on a long-term traverse from a trajectory with extremely high growth rates to one where growth is more moderate. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Chinese GDP growth, year-on-year, which had fallen from 8.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, to 7.6 per cent in the second and 7.4 per […]
He is suspected to have jumped into the sea off Greece Before he was suspected to have jumped into the sea off Greece, 22-year-old Umashankar Mahto wrote extensively in his diary of “mental torture” by the chief officer of m.t. True, who often abused him using filthy language. On several occasions, he complained he was hungry and clearly said he could not go on with his life’s dream of proving […]
The National Investigation Agency is probing a hawala transaction from Dubai which they believe was used to carry out Hyderabad’s twin blasts last week. Vicky Nanjappa reports. A hawala transaction from the Al Quasis industrial area in Dubai to Hyderabad a week before the twin blasts is a subject matter of investigation today. Officials in the NIA informed rediff.com that this is a suspicious transaction and was used to carry […]
The fire broke out at a multi-storey building in the market in central Kolkata around 5:30 am this morning. 20 fire engines have been used to bring the fire under control. The market houses many shops and several plastic and paper godowns. Many workers stay here overnight. Firefighters are facing difficulty in going inside the market because of congested roads and heavy smoke due to the fire. Cutting the window […]
Sri Lankan security forces have committed crimes of sexual violence against ethnic Tamils in state custody, a new Human Rights Watch report says. The study focuses on cases of alleged rape of men, women and minors detained between 2006 and 2012 because of their suspected links to Tamil Tiger rebels. It documents 75 accounts of alleged sexual abuse and torture, saying most of them are backed by medical evidence. Sri […]
Tinsukia: Among upper Assam’s many tea estates, the Kunapathar Tea Estate was known till recently mainly for its sheer size of 1,000 acres. Then, in December, in the middle of a sunny afternoon, a mob armed with bows and arrows tore its way into the house, attacked the owners, and then set the sprawling five-bedroom home on fire. The four security guards at the house said they were outnumbered; any sort […]
