Draft of land acquisition bill to be placed in the public domain in the next few days New Delhi: agricultural land, mines, forests, and spectrum – every form and type of land or space in India with its massive population has currently turned into a battleground with many fronts, interests and slogans. This is not a problem that cannot be avoided any more. This is why the news that the draft of the much-awaited land acquisition bill, compliant with the exiting legislations on panchayats and forest rights and its draft will be placed in public domain in the next two-three days is very welcome.... 

Ban on Diclofenac effective: vulture populations show rise in South Asia Mumbai: according to a report in the Mumbai press, according to a study carried out in India, the ban on veterinary drug diclofenac, responsible for the declining vulture population in south Asia, has proved effective effective, with the proportion of cattle carcasses contaminated with diclofenac declining by over 40% between 2006 and 2008. This has direct implications for the fate of the vulture species which may now show a rise in population. Published in the US-based science journal, PLoS One, the paper also carries... 

Dharhara sees fruit trees as banks, its girls as Lakshmi: now CM gifts it – Bal Kendra, Balika residential school Patna: Dharhara, a village in Bhagalpur district has made news a several times as a sturdy bastion of women’s rights which is rooted in its local tradition. Respect for the girl child is not something that Dharhara learnt either from modern ideologies or the enlightened intellectuals of today. According to its local tradition when a girl child is born to a resident of Dharhara, the family plants a fruit tree. For the daughters of Bihar’s Dharhara village, whose pledge...