Kanak Dixit: We have with us Aruna Roy, from Devdungri village in Rajasthan, who has, among other things, been able to take the Right to Information (RTI) from janasunuwais, or public hearings at the village level, all the way to national legislation that encompasses all of India. It is a movement that is truly global in scale. Aruna, a question that has been troubling me quite a bit in the context...

In what is considered a major success for the police, Sadanala Ramakrishna alias RK, stated to be the head of the central technical committee of the CPI (Maoist), was arrested here on Wednesday. A mechanical engineer from Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, he is believed to have been entrusted with carrying out Maoist activities in West Bengal after the death in November of the outfit's polit bureau member Kishenji. Four other...

-PTI A top UN official has condemned the murder of Indian Journalist Chandrika Rai and asked the concerned authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators of the "shocking crime" to justice. Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, said authorities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where Rai had lived and worked, must ensure the murder is investigated. "I condemn the murder...

-The United Nations The head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting and defending the freedom of the press today condemned the murder of a Journalist in India and called on local authorities to undertake a thorough investigation into the killing. Freelance Journalist Chandrika Rai, 43, was found dead last week along with his wife and two children in their home in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Rai regularly published articles...

-PTI Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday declined to comment on Press Council chairman Justice Markandey Katju's statement that the press did not enjoy freedom in the state and was harassed if they wrote against the government. "I am not required to offer any comment," Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of the 87th foundation day of the Patna Medical College Hospital here. However, health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who was also...