India

Geneva, October 11: An innovative scheme to provide rural Indian communities with toilets and running water in every house has scooped the first Global+5 award in Geneva. “It’s more than water and sanitation, it's human dignity,” said Joe Madiath, head of the Mantra project (Movement and Action network for Transformation of Rural Lives), run by the Indian non-governmental group Gram Vikas

New Delhi, October 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government was mulling over incorporating provisions in the Prevention of Corruption Act to penalise bribe-givers as well, besides giving the law more teeth to tackle corporates indulging in corrupt practices. The amended law would give honest public servants more protection, he said, addressing the 19th Conference of the

Chandigarh, October 10: Former Haryana chief minister Om Parkash Chautla on Wednesday came out in support of the idea given by Khap panchayats that marriageable age limit of girls should be reduced to curb incidents of rape. After submitting a memorandum to Governor Jagannath Pahadia over recent cases of rape in the state, Mr. Chautala slammed the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for a “worsening”

New Delhi, October 10: Amid the controversy over cap on subsidised LPG cylinders, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the government recognises that some subsidy has to be given for rural poor for cooking gas and electricity as part of its endeavour to give access to energy to all. He talked about target subsidy "as best as possible" while stating that the government was planning to

United Nations, October 10: The UPA government that has been facing brickbats from the opposition parties has got a compliment from BJP leader L K Advani for its flagship programme, MGNREGA, which he said has helped empower rural people and revive economic growth. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), enacted in August 2005, has been touted as a flagship programme by

New Delhi, October 10: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday decried creation of “mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism” on the corruption issue and promised to strengthen the anti-graft law by including corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence besides other steps. “The mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of

Lucknow, October 10: Mayawati is expected to make it officially clear today whether she will continue to extend external support to the Congress-led UPA government or not. The Bahujan Samaj Party chief will do this after she consults her party's top leaders in Lucknow on Wednesday morning. From all the signs that Ms Mayawati held out for an anxious Centre at a massive comeback rally yesterday, she

New Delhi, October 10: In an alarming trend, girl child numbers in India have shown a sharper decline than the male children in the decade beginning 2001, leading to a skewed child sex ratio. On the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child, government on Tuesday said that while the decade saw an overall drop in share of children to total population, nearly three million girls, one million

New Delhi, October 10: Any reading of the Sino-Indian war of 1962 does not look good for India. Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru's misreading of Chinese intentions in the wake of his support to Tibet's rebellion, India's "forward policy" that meant different things to different people, Mao Zedong's desire to teach India a "lesson" or the subsequent national security paranoia that it bred in the

New Delhi, October 9: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and the CBI on a petition seeking continuance of investigation into alleged disproportionate assets of farmer UP chief minister Mayawati. The apex court admitted a petition seeking review of its earlier judgment quashing the CBI FIR against Mayawati in the disproportionate assets case. The SC also issued a notice to