The government is returning to a 1970s mentality. This mentality used a presumptive distrust of citizens as an excuse for enhancing state power. It sought accountability, not through intelligently designed transparency norms, but greater discretionary power in state officials. And finally, it sought to curb citizens’ freedoms, not by directly assaulting them, but by embedding them in a structure of regulation that deters free expression. This mentality connects three recent sets...

Sections of vendors and “willing” farmers have alleged discrimination over the Singur bill, suggesting that they may move court if the state government does not address their concerns. Vendors demanded that they be compensated for the investment made at the Nano site. But the government, which has specifically said in the bill that “none of the vendors has obtained any deed of lease in terms of their respective letters of allotment”,...

-The Hindu   Study says there are six crore child labourers in the country ‘Greed for maximisation of profit fuels demand for child labour' Amid heated debate over bringing back unwarranted money stashed abroad, a child rights outfit has claimed that child labour generates Rs.1.2-lakh crore of black money every year in India. According to a report ‘Capital Corruption: Child Labour in India,' prepared by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the figure was arrived...

"The Earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and waters, upon which food and the tribes of man have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking." - Prithvi Sukta, Atharva Veda Land is life. It is the basis of livelihoods for peasants and indigenous people across the Third World and is also becoming the most vital asset in the global economy. As the...

The rural development ministry has proposed that farmers should get 80% of the Profits from resale of land bought from them for development, much higher than that suggested by a Sonia Gandhi-led panel. The National Advisory Council had pegged the compensation after resale at 25% of the Profits made by private developers. The proposal, aimed at giving farmland owners a better deal, follows protests in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida last month over...