-The Hindu Deevige, a sponsored programme on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), produced by All India Radio (AIR) Hassan has received an overwhelming response from the public. The programme, broadcast by all AIR stations in the State simultaneously at 7.45 p.m. every day, has completed 69 episodes so far. Eleven more episodes are scheduled to be aired before March 20. At the end of each episode, AIR invites...

In a state where mining mafia has become audacious enough to allegedly kill a young IPS officer, the mineral resources department does not even keep record of its minister’s periodic review of illegal mining, storage and transportation. This shocking state of affairs in the department has been laid bare by the department’s reply to a recent RTI application.   The RTI plea was filed in December 2011 with the mineral resources department...

-Economic and Political Weekly Strict implementation of NHRC guidelines for investigation into fake “encounters” is a must. The killing of five suspected bank robbers in Chennai on 23 February by police officers tasked with apprehending them looks suspiciously like yet another case of a fake “encounter”. News reports following the killing have brought out various inconsistencies in the claim of the police that they fired in self-defence.   After directives from the National Human...

-IANS The Delhi High Court has slammed the Delhi government for failing to respond to a plea by 172 farmers over takeover of their land using the urgency clause of the Land Acquisition Act.  A division bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Rajiv Shakedhar also fined the government Rs.5,000.  In a hearing March 6, the judges asked the government to explain why it acquired the land using the urgency clause and...

Rights activists and unions have dubbed “racist” and “class-specific” a Tamil Nadu police exercise of enumerating workers, college students and tenants from other states based on their ethnicity and language. The drive comes after five alleged bank robbers were shot dead in Chennai last month. Documents found with them suggested they were from Bihar and Bengal. Some of the activists are planning to challenge the count in court saying it goes against...