NEHU Staff Locks Up VC's Office

Shillong, Oct 4 : Agitated over the vice chancellor's "illegal continuation" even after his term expired, teaching and non-teaching staff of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today sealed his office. In a statement, the Joint Action Committee of the NEHU employees condemned the attempt of the university to deliberately "misinform the public on the matter of illegal continuation of Pramod...

Cyber Children on The Rise

Pune, Oct 4 : The number of gaming sites for kids is fast growing in the Indian cyberspace. One of the most recent entrants is Disney, whose Club Penguin launched an Indian website to widen its virtual world where users waddle around as penguins. They can play games, chat and decorate their igloos. Club Penguin also actively promotes online learning by allowing its user base to create paper-mache...

A Well-Heeled Race

An official world record was set at the event for the fastest ever 4x100m stiletto relay, which saw women in teams of four running in stilettos with a minimum height of 3 inches, to help raise funds to find a cure for breast cancer, in Sydney. Competitors wait for the start of a heat in the "Venus Embrace Closest Stiletto Relay" in Sydney on...

India Shines at Commonwealth Games

New Delhi, Oct 4 : India were off to a perfect start in the tennis event of Commonwealth Games with Rohan Bopanna demolishing Robert Buyinza of Uganda in straight sets in the men’s singles event here on Monday. Bopanna was too good for a player, who has just one ranking point in the ATP charts, as he completed a 6 -- 1 6 -- 4 win in just one hour and two minutes in the first round. Bopanna is scheduled...

Militancy on The Rise in Assam: 10 Abductions in a Month

Guwahati, Oct 4 : It's been a month since two locomotive pilots of the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railways were abducted by Bodo militants in Assam. All police and military operations have so far failed to not only ensure their rescue but to restrain the outfit's activities. And their family members are helpless. Deadline for paying ransom has expired but they are hoping against hope. ...

Harm-Reduction Strategies Proving Successful in Manipur

By Aarti Dhar Imphal, Oct 4 : Manipur is the only State in India to have a policy on harm reduction to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and the strategy seems to be yielding positive results. According to the Annual Report of the Manipur State AIDS Control Society for 2008-2009, the prevalence rate of HIV infection among injecting drug-users has shown a decrease from 76.9 per cent in 1997 to 17.9...

India is a Poor Super Power: Arundhati Roy

Jaipur, Oct 4 : Eminent writer and social activist Arundhati Roy today alleged India is witnessing a war within itself since independence and is actually a poor super power. "Since the country gained independence there have been wars against tribals, dalits and others in several parts of the country leading to violation of human rights," she said. "Now people are struggling for human...

Us Tribals, Them Indians

By Amartya Saha It was a torrid summer afternoon as the Guwahati-bound train raced on through eastern Uttar Pradesh. Passengers had rolled down the window shutters to keep out the sun and dust storms, transforming the compartment into a drowsy oven. At the next station, a small town on the agricultural plain, we alighted and rushed past the chaiwallas1 to the water taps to dowse our heads and fill...