-The Hindu Not a single case of an offending employer being sent to jail Taking note of the National Human Rights Commission report that 2,780 cases involving about one lakh bonded labourers have been registered, the Supreme Court has ordered a fresh survey by the States to find out the total number of such people still to be rescued from employers. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, disposing of a...

-The Hindu For much of India, toilets are all about an issue of sanitation, health, privacy and dignity, and gender rights Let’s forget about what Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said and focus on what he is trying to do. It is not an easy campaign to launch and run. Imagine someone asking what do you do? And having to answer, I promote toilets — toilet construction and toilet use....

-The Hindu Nelamanagala Taluk/Allasandra village: They were confined against their wishes and without wages The last sight Khagapati Kumbhar (39) expected on Wednesday afternoon was a convoy of white government vehicles speeding towards the brick factory where he worked. Mr. Kumbhar and 13 other migrant labourers from his village in the backward Bolangir district of Odisha had been confined against their wishes and without wages in the factory since June. The convoy screeched to...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Monday said the common man in India felt cheated as the authorities preferred to demolish illegal slums and hutments of the poor while sparing unauthorized constructions put up by the affluent. The court said the failure of the authorities to take prompt demolition action against illegal and unauthorized constructions owned by the rich gave out a loud message that "planning laws are enforced only...

-The Hindustan Times A demand for the money allotted to her under Indira Vikas Yojana cost a mahadalit woman her life in Bihar's Gaya district. The former block pramukh, who had siphoned off the funds, allegedly sprinkled kerosene on Putukwa Devi and set her on fire. Putukwa Devi died in hospital on Sunday. The 35-year-old woman was a member of the poorest of dalits. The category was created by chief minister Nitish...