The public hearing held here to elicit the opinion of tribal people of various villages under Sarugudu panchayat of Nathavaram mandal in Visakhapatnam district, on the proposed laterite mining project, passed off peacefully on Thursday. The police, who were present in large numbers, and the officials were at ease as the project proponents seemed to have brainwashed the people located on the hills on the benefits that would accrue to them...

-The Hindu   State to take care of education and other needs of their son till 12th standard Two hardcore Maoists, one of whom was reportedly involved in the Silda camp killing in 2010, called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat on Thursday after surrendering before the police. Congratulating the duo, who met her along with their child, Ms. Banerjee said the government would examine the legal cases against...

Father Cedric Prakash is a human rights and peace activist based in Ahmedabad. He has campaigned for the justice of the victims of the 2002 communal violence on peril of being publicly branded as “non-Gujarati and non-Hindu” by chief minister Narendra Modi. A resident of Gujarat for nearly 40 years, Prakash is the founding director of Prashant, a centre for human rights, peace and justice. He was named Chevalier of the...

To gain a foothold in forest areas first Maoist rebels, who resurfaced in Telangana, are now planning to start a new students' organisation called Adivasi Vidyarthi Sangam (AVS) to mobilise tribal students to fight for their rights and welfare activities. The formation of AVS is being seen as a part of the overall Maoist strategy to revive the defunct mass organisations, which helped spread revolutionary activity. Information culled from different sources indicates...

-The Times of India   More than 8,000 tribals, armed with traditional weapons, participated in a demonstration organized in front of the office of the Balangir collector on Friday. They criticized the government for taking no action against fake tribal certificate holders. They went round the Balangir town in a rally before coming to the collector office. Security was beefed up in the town in view of the agitation. The agitators submitted a...