Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, in an article on left-wing extremism (“From Tirupati to Pashupati?” The Hindu , October 14, 2011), observed candidly: “It is not the naxals who have created the ground conditions ripe for their ideology — it is the singular failure of successive governments both in the States and the Centre.” There lay the main cause of the festering sore of naxalism, often characterised as left-wing...

Six months after she died, police in Bhopal have acted on the death of a two-year-old, malnourished girl. They have booked her parents, charging them with “causing death by negligence”. Activists say that this is perhaps the first instance in India where parents have been blamed for death caused by malnourishment. Adviser to Supreme Court commissioners in the right to food case Sachin Jain said the administration always tried to push malnutrition...

The Government is contemplating legal action against HSBC Bank for what is being described as the “active’’ role of their executives in persuading Indian account-holders to open accounts to park undeclared money in their branch in Geneva. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sought the opinion of the Law Ministry for this and underlined that a similar course of action has been taken by other countries who, like India,...

Citing lack of evidence, Jharkhand High Court today acquitted four alleged Maoists, sentenced to death for opening fire on spectators of a football match in Giridih in October 2007 and killing Babulal Marandi’s son and 18 others. A division bench of Justices R.K. Merathia and P.P. Bhatt heard the appeals filed by accused Jeetan Marandi, Manoj Rajwar, Anil Ram and Chhatrapti Mandal and gave them the “benefit of doubt” after citing...

Anyone can talk big things, but nothing beats the old saying; “Action speaks louder than words”. How do we tackle the situation where most of the so called concerned people are actually opportunists who are waiting for someone to get the beating first and decide? What will happen in a society where everyone is an opportunist with illusionary autocratic mentality; sitting comfortably at a distance and only pointing fingers of...