Strong policy research is the cornerstone of policy formulation and a necessary condition for sustained good governance. However, it is widely acknowledged that the quality of policy research in India has been found wanting, both within and outside the government. Indicatively, not a single Indian think tank featured in the [...]

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Monday said that cell phone towers in the city were not illegal and that radiation from them doesn’t affect health adversely. The COAI and Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) reiterated that mobile towers shouldn’t be termed “illegal” [...]

Kolkata, May 20 (IANS) In the wake of the death of a boy allegedly after he was mercilessly beaten by his school teacher, the West Bengal government has decided to order primary school teachers in the state not to “chastise” a student or “discriminate” between them. The instructions, to be [...]

Jalandhar: President Pranab Mukherjee Monday called upon universities to lay emphasis on imparting vocational training to youth in the country while pointing out that by 2020, two-third of the workforce in the world would be from India. Addressing a gathering at the third convocation of the Lovely Professional University (LPU) [...]

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The Delhi government Monday decided to install 120 dialysis machines in six state-run hospitals to provide free dialysis and allied procedures to the poor and identified categories of patients. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. “The government [...]

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) International philanthropy group Safe Water Network Monday launched a tablet-based water and health education campaign designed to build awareness of and demand for safe water in rural communities. One of its kind, the campaign uses multiple regional dialects and culturally specific marketing content to educate [...]

Guwahati, May 20 (IANS) At least ten youths have been arrested for impersonation, allegedly appearing in Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) for medical and engineering courses on behalf of other students, Assam Police said Monday. While five of them were arrested from four different examination centres in Guwahati Sunday, four others [...]

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Monday ordered the demolition of all unauthorised structures on the flood plains and river beds of Yamuna and Hindon rivers in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, officials said. “All illegal and unauthorized constructions either temporary or permanent and raised without [...]

London, May 20 (IANS) People who begin drinking alcohol during puberty are more likely to become addicts, a German study has said. Many parents think that supervised early drinking encourages children to have a more responsible attitude to alcohol. But a new study has said that those who begin to [...]

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday gave vent to its ire over state governments flouting guidelines for the appointment of ‘Shiksha Sahayaks’ for promoting primary education saying it amounted to “spoiling the future of the future generations”. As senior counsel U.U. Lalit, appearing for the Gujarat government, [...]