Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil, known for his work on the conservation of Western Ghats, has passed away in Pune after a brief illness. He was 83.
Civil society groups, led by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, are planning a nationwide protest -- similar to the farmers' stir a few years ago -- starting December 19 demanding scrapping of the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission.
Social activist Aruna Roy has decided not to continue in the United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council after her term expires on Friday.
Going by political tradition, another formation will likely come to power in Karnataka in the next assembly election, due 2028. And if that happens, Mr Shivakumar will have to sit it out till 2033, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Amid opposition call for his resignation over the Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday said he is ready to quit if asked by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of repeatedly "wounding" the Indian Constitution. He claimed that the Congress, driven by its "lust for power," has consistently undermined the principles of the Constitution. Modi, however, praised India's democratic journey since its independence, highlighting the country's strong democratic roots and its unwavering commitment to its founding principles. He underscored the importance of unity for India's future development and emphasized that the Constitution is the bedrock of that unity.
The Centre on Tuesday asked the UPSC to withdraw the latest advertisement for lateral entry in bureaucracy, amid a row over reservation in the advertised posts.
Official said a CBI inquiry has been recommended against Aman Biradari for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
Civil society activist Aruna Roy, who has quit the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council over the issue of minimum wages, on Thursday said that she would go back to activism now in a total sense.Roy claimed she has no differences with the National Advisory Council.
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
The National Advisory Council on Friday placed in the public domain for comments the draft 'Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011'.
Dreze and Gupta were taken into preventive custody for organising a programme without taking permission.
She has also resigned as chairperson of the NAC.
Pitching for better integration of children from disadvantaged groups in private schools, the NAC favoured widening the definition of 'disadvantaged' to include groups such as migrant and street children, children in conflict regions and children of manual scavengers. At the NAC meeting, member Anu Aga, convener of the Working Group on Right to Education, made a presentation on its recommendations to improve RTE.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has not sought any reimbursement for medical bills from the government, the Central Information Commission has said.
Against the backdrop of thousands of suggestions being made to the Justice Verma committee on crime against women, activist Aruna Roy on Monday pitched for the involvement of citizens in framing laws.
Activist-turned politician Arvind Kejriwal has refuted all charges levelled by Digvijay Singh, saying that the Congress general secretary's letter describing him as ambitious and self-serving does not deserve any response, as the party has lost its mental balance. He said this while addressing reporters on Saturday in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
Noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, bureaucrat-turned-activist Harsh Mander and academician Madhav Gadgil have been denied re-nomination.
Social activists, led by National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy, on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's observations on the Right To Information Act, alleging it signals support from the "highest quarters" to those keen on diluting the law. The "concerns expressed by the PM will support and pass a signal to those who want to dilute and weaken the Act that they have support from the highest quarters," a statement signed by several RTI activists said.
The Land Acquisition Bill, which was being pushed by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, is set for further delay with the controversial matter being referred to a Group of Ministers because of the opposition by a number of Cabinet ministers.
With the threat of a failed monsoon and an impending drought, the need for public works and for greater numbers of workers will arise in many states, says Aruna Roy
A recent national consultation of Christian leaders has opposed the Communal Violence Bill for being inadequate, reports Yogi Sikand
No government department seems to have any information about the tours and travels undertaken by the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi as a Right To Information application kept moving to different ministries without any substantial response.
On a day when a full-page email interview with the prime minister appeared in the Hindustan Times, the National Advisory Council, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, on Friday slammed the United Progressive Alliance government for not implementing a score of its recommendations, including food security to all, made in the past two years.
NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting that the proposed national policy for domestic workers should ensure a daily minimum wage without sex discrimination, weekly offs and paid annual leave.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday claimed that India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal had approached him in the past to push his name for a position in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council.
Shashank Shukla, currently pursuing second year of the Teach for India (TFI) programme has helped set up five homeless adult shelters across Delhi in the last few months and is also running three existing residential homes for children.
The Centre's plan for a unique biometric-enabled number to every Indian resident is facing opposition from social activists who say it will impact civil liberties - state-citizen relations and privacy.
It is unusual for Congress chief ministers to say no to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, but some of them have gathered the courage to oppose Gandhi's dream project.
India-born Gururaj Deshpande, chairman of Tejas Networks, A123 and Akshaya Patra, has been appointed co-chairman of United States President Barack Obama's National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He will support Obama's innovation strategy by helping develop policies that foster entrepreneurship, create jobs and drive economic growth.
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday filed an FIR in New Delhi against United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and members of the National Advisory Council' (which is headed by Gandhi) 'for committing offences of propagating hate against the Hindu community by circulating for enacting as law a draft bill described as Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011.'
In an apparent dig at Anna Hazare's campaign for Jan Lokpal Bill, National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy on Monday said one has the right to dissent in a democracy but not to overrule the functioning of Parliament and its multifarious structures.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on the Food Security Bill.
Responding to Anna Hazare's complaint against her "colleagues", Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday assured him that she does not support "politics of smear campaign" and that she was strongly committed to the institution of Lokpal.
NGOs have acquired a certain critical mass and are increasingly becoming powerful voices in public discourse.
Today, public policy projects itself as pro-farmer but it does it half-heartedly, complains Swaminathan.
The new Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, has been set up by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research's Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security program.
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