Education becomes a basic right
PM calls for collective effort to realise true potential of RTE Act
New Delhi, April 1
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Elementary Education Act came into force in the country today amid an emotional appeal of collective effort by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and loads of applauses for the government from various parties, including those in the Opposition — the BJP and the Left.

SIBALSPEAK
But where are the teachers?
Ground zero

SC relief to Lalu in fodder scam
New Delhi, April 1
In a verdict that has far-reaching legal and political ramifications, the Supreme Court today gave a major relief to RJD chief Lalu Prasad by ruling that the JD(U)-BJP-ruled Bihar government was not competent to appeal against the acquittal of Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi by the trial court in a corruption case relating to the fodder scam.

Wheat fails to keep date with mandis in Punjab
Chandigarh, April 1
The first day of the procurement season saw “zero” procurement in mandis across Punjab. Reports from the border district of Ferozepur, which is usually the first to receive the Rabbi crop, also reported nil procurement.

AP govt was ‘kind’ to Raju
Favours doled out to Satyam Computers, reveals CAG report
Hyderabad, April 1
In a first official indictment of Andhra Pradesh government for doling out undue favours to Satyam Computers promoted by the disgraced IT icon B Ramalinga Raju, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report revealed that norms were violated in allotment of land for the company.

Don’t treat Army men shabbily, SC tells govt
New Delhi, April 1
The Supreme Court has directed the government to treat Army personnel in a “better and more humane manner” in respect of emoluments, pension and other benefits as they were bravely defending the country at the cost of their lives.

60 years of bilateral ties
Delhi, Beijing to move closer
New Delhi, April 1
India and China today completed 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been marked by mutual mistrust over a plethora of issues, including the complex boundary row.

UAE Court Verdict In despair, families look to PM for help Jalandhar, April 1 In shock over the sentencing of their relatives to death in UAE for allegedly killing a Pakistani national, the families of 17 Punjabis have stepped up efforts to save them from the gallows. Punjab page: Pall of gloom descends on Ferozepur village Krishna’s directive Ranjit Kaur, whose husband Dharampal Singh has been sentenced to death in the UAE, in tears at Jalandhar on Thursday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh