-The Hindu Most of them were conned into coming to Bangalore Bangalore: Officials of the Revenue Department and the Tahsildar’s Office (Bangalore South) raided a private brick factory in Channenahalli near Tavarekere on Bangalore’s outskirts and rescued 14 bonded labourers on Thursday. Amongst the rescued were five women and six children, who were freed from the CGR factory owned by two brothers — C.R. Lokesh and C.R. Mahesh — a rescue team member...

-First Post While the average Human Development Index (HDI) for the region is 0.558, below the world average of 0.693, South Asia saw the highest growth in the index between 2000 and 2012, according to the United Nations Human Development Report 2013. The region registered an annual growth of 1.43 percent in HDI, the highest compared to other regions. It also said that the developing countries as a whole are driving the...

-The Indian Express They are denied entry to temples, given restricted access to water, made to work for a pittance. Now that Orissa's Dalits are asserting themselves against traditions, many are facing ostracism or violent attacks. Debabrata Mohanty reports Until a month before Naveen Patnaik became Orissa's chief minister in March 2000, Dalit labourer Ganapati Naik, now 42, had been living a happy if impoverished life with his bride and parents in...

-The Times of India It is budget time once again. Far away from the talk of lakhs and crores of rupees echoing from Parliament to television studios, a thin adivasi teenage girl stands in a queue at her hostel, her plate in her hand, waiting for her share of the gruel that she is given for lunch every day. Her family depends on the money from the minor forest produce her...

-The Indian Express Osama Ibrahim arrived in Hyderabad a month ago with very specific requirements: he wanted to marry a girl below 20; he would pay Rs 1 lakh to her family as bride price; the marriage would last a month; and that he would leave the country after a divorce. The 44-year-old Sudanese engineer, who has a wife and two children back home, had no problem finding what he wanted. At...