The tribal people of Chhattisgarh are in an extremely dangerous situation, caught as they are between the state forces and the Maoists. THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Soni Sori, an Adivasi schoolteacher from Chhattisgarh, was arrested in Delhi on October 4 on charges of acting as a conduit between the Essar group and the Maoists, the former accused of giving “protection money” to the latter. On October 7, she moved the Delhi High Court to...

-PTI   Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today refuted the charge that National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) had caused labour shortage in sectors like agriculture and construction. Ramesh said that there was a deliberate attempt to spread propaganda discrediting NREGA. "The scheme has increased agricultural wages, reduced distressed migration in some parts of the country and created community assets particularly water conservation structures. Of course, there is room for improvement," the...

At least seven persons have lost vision in one eye with infection “almost incurably damaging the other” after they underwent cataract operation in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, on July 12, according to their relatives. Recently, 50 people lost their vision and three died after a cataract operation in neighbouring Durg district. While the Durg operation was conducted in a government camp, this was undertaken by a charity institute, Udayachal Dharmarth Netra Chikitsalaya, in...

When farmers in Gujarat want to fight big companies or the government, they know who to turn to. A frail 95-year-old who survives on four chapatis a day and refuses to hang up his protester’s boots. Just seven months ago, Chunni Vaidya walked 370km to stop a Nirma cement plant in Mahuva village because he agreed that it would poison water bodies. Nowadays, if the Gandhian is not travelling to coastal Mithivirdi...

-PTI   The CBI will oppose the bail of five corporate honchos in the Supreme Court which is to hear their petitions on Monday, in connection with the 2G scam, days after it did not object to the bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and four others in the trial court. Sources in the investigating agency confirmed that it has instructed the lawyer to oppose the plea of corporate executives - Unitech Wireless'...