-The Times of India The Assam Government on Thursday declared the current floods in the state as the worst since 2004. So far 23 people have died in the calamity even as the army, IAF and the National Disaster Response Force of BSF have been pressed into service for rescue and relief operations. Government spokesman and agriculture minister Nilamoni Sen Deka said, "The government is making all necessary efforts to help the...

-The Telegraph A US government report has painted a gloomy picture of human trafficking in the Northeast. The US state department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report, released by secretary of state Hillary Clinton yesterday, said there had been a rise in women from the region being subjected to “servile marriages” in states with low female-to-male child sex ratios such as Haryana and Punjab. According to the report, girls from the Northeast are also...

In September 2010, a large public meeting was held in Guwahati to discuss the impact of large hydroelectric projects in the Northeast. In attendance was Jairam Ramesh, then the minister of environment and forests in the government of India. Ramesh heard that the people of Assam were worried that the hundred and more dams being planned in Arunachal Pradesh would reduce water-flows, increase the chance of floods, and deplete fish...

-The Telegraph An “urban-rural divide” seemed to unfold within the government today as rural development minister Jairam Ramesh appeared to take on his urban development counterpart Kamal Nath after the Centre included Chhindwara under the Integrated Action Plan for Maoist-affected areas. According to the home ministry, Chhindwara, Kamal Nath’s constituency in Madhya Pradesh, is not under Maoist influence. Ramesh said some districts not affected by the Maoist menace had been brought under the...

-The Economic Times The "no-detention" and "comprehensive and continuous evaluation" provisions of the Right to Education came under criticism from some states particularly Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Assam at the 59th meeting of the Central Advisory board of Education on Wednesday.  In the two years that the Right to Education has been implemented there appears to have been a great deal of misconception about the intent of having a "no detention" policy or...