-The Hindustan Times Some time ago I visited a Dalit hamlet in Rewa district. It was hemmed in on all sides by the fields of upper-caste farmers, who refused to allow any approach road to reach the hamlet. There were short roads inside the hamlet, but they stopped abruptly at the edge of it. The hamlet felt like an island, surrounded by hostile territory. I wondered whether any other country still...

-PTI Government has asked the CBI to probe alleged illegal activities of 24 NGOs which received funds from abroad, Lok Sabha was informed today. Minister of State for Home R P N Singh said different state police forces were also asked to probe into the alleged irregularities of 10 other NGOs which received funds from abroad. The Minister said altogether Rs 10,997.35 crore was received as foreign contribution by 23,172 NGOs across India...

-Outlook The government today cleared the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy that will bring 348 essential drugs under price control, leading to reduction in prices. "The National Pharmaceutical Pricing policy has been approved by the Cabinet with an objective to put in place a regulatory framework for pricing of drugs to ensure their availability at reasonable prices," an official source said. At present, the government through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) controls prices...

-Outlook A Delhi-based RTI activist today threatened to initiate legal proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal and his associates alleging that one of the NGOs run by them collected funds but did not account them, a charge denied by India Against Corruption. Pranav Arora alleged that Kejriwal was associated with the NGO Kabir, run by India Against Corruption leader Manish Sisodia, and it had got funds from Ford Foundation which they did not show...

-IPS News Calls are mounting for the world’s big fishing powers to stop subsidising international fleets that use destructive methods like bottom trawling in foreign coastal waters, drastically reducing the catch of local artisanal fishers who use nets and fishing lines. Such subsidies total 27 billion dollars a year, with nearly two-thirds coming from China, Taiwan and Korea along with Europe, Japan and the United States, according to a University of British...