Rajasthan had emerged as a model for transparency and accountability in NREGS implementation. Tragically, entrenched interests have been allowed to hijack the process.  Through the second half of October and for most of November this year, Rajasthan was engulfed in an unusual form of protest, spearheaded in the main by gram panchayat officials. Joined in some places by elected MLAs and MPs, and backed covertly by a section of District...

The Copenhagen conference will definitely go down as the worst meeting in global climate negotiations. There is a complete mess here: lines of people standing outside the Bella Centre, where the conference is taking place, wanting to get in. Inside the meeting has broken down for the umpteenth time because industrialized countries refuse to commit to cutting emissions. Instead they want the global climate agreement changed, so that they do...

Taking suo motu notice of reports of torture of two minors by the police in Jhundpura, Uttar Pradesh, that too for no cause, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday sought an explanation from the State. The NHRC issued a notice to the SSP of Gautambudh Nagar, seeking a “factual” report within four weeks. It said the matter was a serious violation of human rights of minor children. The notice related...

The number of sex workers in the country may touch a whopping five million in just a few years, if the world's oldest profession is legalized as suggested by the Supreme Court, warn activists. Hearing a PIL by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan about large scale child trafficking, the apex court had last week said that if the trade can't be curbed through punitive measures, legalizing it would be a better...

As protests against the plan to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh continued during the third day of the bandh in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, agitators in Nellore closed the gates of the Kandaleru reservoir of the Telugu Ganga project for the second consecutive day and stopped release of water to Chennai for some time before irrigation officials intervened and re-opened them. In Vijayawada, Telugu Desam Party leaders, including two MLAs, launched...