-The Times of India   The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that lodging under-trial accused in jailindefinitely will breach their fundamental right to life and ordered release of joint managing director of a big grain export firm on bail in a case of alleged defrauding of nationalized banks. Releasing Dipak S Mehta of Vishal Exports Overseas Ltd on bail similar to the apex court's earlier decision to grant bail to corporate bigwigs...

SHEILA DEVI, 54, of Nangal Kalan village in Haryana’s Sonepat district cannot comprehend how Taneja Developers and Infrastructure Ltd (TDI) procured her two-acre plot in 2004, ‘signed’ with thumb impressions of her husband Narender Singh, who died in 2002 and his brother Bhupender, who went missing the next year. The documents are obviously forged. But how did a farmers’ family get cheated in Haryana, where the land acquisition policy formed in...

-PTI   In its Budget wish-list, the Agriculture Ministry has demanded lowering of interest rate on crop loans to 3% for those farmers who pay in time, from the existing 4%. According to sources, the ministry has suggested an additional 1% interest subvention (subsidy) on short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers who pay their dues on time. Other farmers get crop loans at seven% interest rate. The 2012-13 Budget...

Chhotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act-1908 came into existence to safeguard rights of the tribals, especially on their traditional landholdings. It is not very clear how much the Act has been successful in assuring the rights to the traditional dwellers, though it is an open secret that it has denied them access to bank credits, thus hampering them financially. Latest figures suggest that bank loans to Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste have moved...

Interview with Teesta Setalvad of Citizens for Justice and Peace. TEESTA SETALVAD, through her organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace, has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the victims of the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. She has also worked extensively on many other issues affecting minority communities in the State. In this interview to Frontline, she speaks about Chief Minister Narendra Modi's new tactics and the marginalisation...