Must Travel: 'Kasar Devi' - The 'Heaven' of Uttarakhand

#BloggerDreamTeam Kasar Devi a place to be termed as the heaven of Uttarakhand. The place to remember with its unique attraction, clean atmosphere, lonely places, natural beauty and moreover it has a charm to stay back in the vicinity. Hilly areas with a lush green, cloudy and dewed moody seasons makes us happy.

This was the first time over many years that I didn’t have a fixed travel plan for this month. Too many options, too many places to visit, too many things to see, to choose one amongst many is a tedious task in itself.

Exclusive: Bizarre UPA-Era Figures Revealed 70% Of Delhi Used For Organic Farming In 2012 And Records Can't Explain Where 100 Crore Subsidies Gone?

Believe it or not, almost 70 per cent of the national Capital was used for organic farming in 2011-2012, according to National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture. 

While the total geographical area of Delhi is 1.48 lakh hectares, NPOF data shows 100238.74 hectares (almost twice the size of Mumbai) was used for organic farming during that period. 

What smacks of data fudging and a gigantic scam took place between 2009 and 2012 when the Sheila Dikshit government was in power in Delhi and the Congress-led UPA ruled at the Centre.

Focus: Want To Get A 'Pilot' Job? Just, 'Bribe' Your Way!

Getting a Pilot job in any Indian airlines is not a tough job. Just shell out some money and job will be yours! INNLIVE investigates the entire episode of this cunning practice and sketched the complete picture of this malpractice.

Four years after the fake pilot licence scam broke out, money and influence continue to be the important qualifications for a job in the sky.

One fine morning, pretending to be an unemployed pilot looking for a job, INNLIVE contacted Suresh Kumar Lamba, private secretary to the director, ministry of civil aviation. Edited excerpts:

'Swine Flu Treatment' Burns Hole In Patients' Pocket, Exposes Chinks In Medical Sector In Delhi

Ritu Aggarwal, sitting outside the swine flu ward of Safdarjung Hospital is worried. Her husband Mahesh has been admitted there and the prevailing conditions are unsatisfactory.

“I’ve spent around Rs 15,000 in my hometown in Uttar Pradesh but they lack the facilities to treat swine flu.  They told us to go to Delhi. The government should make swine flu medicines available in the other states too.”

The Delhi Health Services issued show cause notices to two private labs for overcharging more than the specified limit of Rs 4,500 fixed by the government for swine flu tests.

Revealed: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Rawat Shuns 15.81 Crore Official Bungalow 'Because It's Unlucky'

One of Uttarakhand’s most luxurious bungalows has been waiting for its occupant for a year now.

Located in the Cantonment area in the city, the state-of-the-art bungalow has failed to attract Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who continues to live at the state government's Bijapur guest house.

Sources close to him said that the CM’s hesitation to move to the bungalow is because of the ill-luck it had brought to the previous chief ministers residing there. 

Yamuna Dam Raises Flood Fears In Delhi: 'Lakhwar-Vyasi Project Could Have 'Catastrophic' Consequences'

While the ravages caused by floods in Uttarakhand and more recently in Kashmir still haunt the nation, the central government has decided to execute the Lakhwar-Vyasi hydroelectric project in the Yamuna valley.

It is feared the project could have catastrophic consequences for the national capital.

Environmentalists warn that apart from the eastern, northeastern and western parts of Delhi, the south of the city may also be under water in the event of a flood. 

Investigation: The Unending Saga Of 'Forest' Fake PhDs

A INNLIVE investigation reveals how India’s premier institute for forestry research bent rules to grant doctorates to several forest service officers. The entire investigation runs on the information flowed over the series of visits conducted by the INNLIVE teams in various places and the main campus in Dehradun.

A corrupt clique of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers has cankered one of India’s proud institutions, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), which has an illustrious history to match its heritage building in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Five Lakh For Christmas Conversion Mission: RSS Seeks Donations For 'Ghar Vapsi' Drive

Undettered by the backlash it is facing in Parliament, the Dharam Jagran Samiti, an offshoot of the RSS, is marching ahead to meet its target of 'converting' one lakh Muslims and one lakh Christians in a year.

To achieve this, the organisation is seeking massive funding from their well-wishers as the rate for conversion, according to this report, ranges from Rs 2 lakh for a Christian individual and Rs 5 lakh for a Muslim.

India, The World’s First Astro-Nuclear Power?

Our ancient knowledge and aviation supremacy was destroyed in the nuclear test conducted by sage Kanad in 2 BC.

Ajay Devgn would be so proud, his chest would become blouse if he knew about the house that meets, adjourns and meets again to engage in the fruitless exercise of writing India’s destiny. Because our destiny lies in the stars. Man may have reached the moon and may know all about stars but never as much as the stars know about us.

Exclusive: Loyal Congressman GK Vasan quits party after 14 years: Here's why Gandhis should be worried?

The first major fissure in the Congress has surfaced, with former minister GK Vasan all set to break away from the party to revive his father’s legacy and outfit, the Tamil Maanila Congress in Tamil Nadu. Vasan’s move may have its roots in the conviction of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa who had to step down as chief minister thereby creating a politically fluid situation in which both the ruling party as well as the opposition DMK are in a state of flux.

"This has raised hopes in other parties and leaders who think they can create space for themselves in the state which was dominated by either the AIADMK or the DMK for close to half a century. This is the best opportunity to come their way. And this includes the BJP which is stands benefit the most from the situation in the state where it wants to set up its footprint," said a Congress leader.

High Voter Turnout In UP: Is It The Effect Of Polarization?

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

ELECTION ANALYSIS Heavy turnout was recorded in the second phase of polling in 11 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, with especially high turnout in Rampur, Moradabad, Nagina and Sambhal. Incidentally, Rampur, Moradabad and Sambhal are Muslim-dominated constituencies. 

Election Commission figures put the turnout in Rampur at 69.32 percent, which is more than 14 per cent higher than 2009. Nagina witnessed 61.98 per cent polling while Moradabad recorded 61.22 per cent and Sambhal recorded 56.8 per cent polling. 

NaMo Effect: 2,000-Odd 'RSS Shakhas' Sprout Across India

By Sridhar Panchal | INNLIVE

EXCLUSIVE For the last three months, Ravi Tewari, a 22-year-old engineering student, has been waking up at 5am, putting on his white shirt and khaki shorts and rushing to a nearby park for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) morning shakha. His family is surprised. No one in the Tewari clan has ever been with RSS. So, they can’t quite figure what is driving Ravi to adopt this punishing morning drill. 
    
“I believe in Hindutva,” says Ravi. “The country needs reforms. Who other than Narendra Modi can make it happen? The youth needs something to look forward to. They also need to take up more responsibilities to change things and the shakha is the best place to learn how to do it.” 

Will This Election See Higher Turnout After 'Poll Tamasha'?

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

ANALYSIS While an increased turnout in Assembly elections is not an indicator of the same in Lok Sabha elections, aggressive campaigning points toward a higher turnout in this poll.

If the pattern of turnout in the Assembly elections held over the last couple of years are of any indication, the turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections should significantly increase. Almost all the Assembly elections held in different States between 2012-13 witnessed a higher turnout compared to those held in previous years. 

Focus: Why Uttar Pradesh Won’t Be A Cakewalk For NaMo?

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

ANALYSIS Many in the commentariat are excitedly predicting a BJP sweep in Uttar Pradesh at next month's Lok Sabha elections. It is being argued that BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's nomination from Varanasi has so electrified the 133 million voters in India's most populous state that his party could win 35-40 of its 80 seats. 

No one has yet explained just how Modi's mere candidature from the temple town would ensure wins for random BJP candidates elsewhere in the state. Hurriedly rejected is any suggestion that the deeply entrenched caste politics, which has long shaped electoral outcomes in the cow belt state, may stump the so-called 'Modi wave'.

Buried Treasure: Villagers In Uttarakhand Turn To A Lucrative Fungus To Supplement Regular Income

By Swetha Reddy | Dehradun

SPECIAL REPORT Every year, as the snow begins to melt towards the end of April, Mahender Singh Bisht and his friends trek three days from their village of Sai-polo in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon division to fields near the Poting Glacier, about 40 kilometres to the north-west. Here, at an altitude of about 3,800 metres, they spend two or three days crawling on their hands and knees, scouring the ground for the protruding stalks of what is known, in the local Kumaoni, as kira jhar—ghost moth caterpillars attached to the stalks of a fungus that attacks and mummifies them during their underground larval phase. 

OpEd: Can 'Aam Aadmi Party' Become A National Force?

By Hartosh Singh Bal (Guest Writer)

PRESPECTIVE When the Delhi assembly, amidst the expected uproar, voted 42 to 27 to block the introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill on 14 February, it signalled the end of the Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal’s volatile seven weeks as chief minister. 

In a characteristic act of showmanship, Kejriwal tried to project the failure as the result of a united effort by the Congress and the BJP to scuttle the AAP’s cherished anti-corruption legislation, and not of his government’s attempt to sidestep constitutional procedure by bringing the bill to the floor without the approval of the central government. 

Will 'Telangana' Gamble Pay Off For The Congress Party?

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

SPECIAL REPORT The Congress finally manages to ram the Telangana Bill through. But will the gamble pay off. For all those who fought for Telangana, a 45-year-old struggle has finally borne fruit. More than 900 families had lost a loved one to self-immolation in the name of the cause and each one of them know that the new state could have been formed under better circumstances. 

Everyone wishes that their demand for a separate state had been addressed on its own merit as opposed to what the Congress has pulled off — a cynical move with an eye on elections, delivered with an utter lack of grace.

Opinion: With Telangana – Divide and Rule Policy Adopted?

By Sri Sri Ravishankar (Guest Writer)

India is a phenomenon – the largest democracy on Earth, with a plethora of cultural, religious and linguistic diversity. It is simply a miracle that It still exists united, unlike the former Yugoslavian and Soviet countries. 

Though our forefathers had wisely divided the nation on linguistic basis for ease of administration and communication, the huge population and distances have forced many states to be further divided. One such crisis in the current scenario is Telangana. The situation of Telangana is very peculiar unlike Uttarakhand. 

Telangana: Birth Of A New State And Death Of Many Things

By Newscop | INNLIVE

ANALYSIS When labour pangs become insufferable, doctors suggest a Caesarean section. The baby is extracted out of the womb. Doctors in India are often accused of forcing Caesarean section on a mother, to earn a quick buck, and deny the child a natural birth, besides putting the mother at risk. 

The birth of India's 29th state is a case of precisely that. The time of Telangana's birth had come. The pain was at its peak. But spindoctors did not allow Telangana a natural birth. What happened in Lok Sabha was inevitable; the way it happened was totally avoidable.

When Will Indian Politics Wake Up To 'Climate Change'?

By Aditi Kapoor (Guest Writer)

IN FOCUS Initiatives that do not factor in climate resilience and related gender concerns cannot address development challenges, but the manner in which state-level climate action plans are being implemented shows these are yet to become electoral planks. 

The Uttarakhand floods and Cyclone Phailin, which ravaged the coast of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in 2013, have illustrated how the effects of climate change can erode development gains, greatly impacting the lives of the poor, especially women.