-The Hindu The ground beneath Arundhati Roy’s seismic claims on the Parliament House attack, is shaky — to say the least “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions”, the American politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan — among others — is credited with having said, “but not to his own facts.” Muhammad Afzal Guru’s execution on Saturday morning — a grim spectacle, where the Indian government disgraced itself by denying his family a last meeting,...

-The Guardian By shunning all but organic farming techniques, the Himalayan state will cement its status as a paradigm of sustainability Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilisers. But rather than accept that this will mean farmers of the small Himalayan kingdom of 1.2 million people...

-The Hindu Oppression and discrimination suffered by the low caste groups and Dalits at the hands of the dominant caste groups in Haryana and Rajasthan is reproduced within the families bringing in wives from other parts of India. The brides are “needed” solely for their ability to perform free reproductive and productive labour. They are also preferred over local women as the loosening of natal family connections renders them vulnerable to domination...

-The Indian Express The victim in the Suryanelli rape case tells her story—a nightmare that lasted 40 days and the trauma that stayed with her every day for the past 17 years She is the ‘Suryanelli girl’. “But that’s not my name.” It’s not. It’s the name of the village in Kerala’s Idukki district where she lived a 16-year-old’s life—happy, innocent, smiling easily. She doesn’t smile easily anymore, but then, a lot...

-The Times of India It appears to be one step forward and two steps back for the government in so far as pruning of fuel subsidy bill is concerned. The latest example is the oil ministry's order asking state-run fuel retailers to supply cooking gas cylinders at subsidized rate to non-domestic consumers such as canteens, medical institutions and mid-day meal kitchens. The order on cooking gas, issued on Tuesday, comes close on...