-Outlook In his maiden visit to Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh, President Pranab Mukherjee today praised the "young state" for its all-round development. Asserting that Chhattisgarh has a rich legacy of one of the oldest panchayati raj systems, he said it has emerged as one of the fastest developing states in the country. "This young state has registered all round development on many fronts and made its presence felt at the national level," he said in...

-Rediff.com Today, Irom Sharmila, the Manipur civil rights activist, marks 12 years of her fast in protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the state. She remains in judicial custody where she continues to be force-fed through her nose. Deepti Priya Mehrotra, author of Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur, recalls her association with the Iron Lady of Manipur. I met her initially in October 2006...

-The Business Standard Three former Karnataka CMs face Lok Ayukta probe  The investigation ordered by the Lok Ayukta court in Karnataka into the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) project, which has the mandate to build the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), consisting of an expressway and five townships, is significant for two reasons. One, despite being headless for some time, the Karnataka Lok Ayukta is not a toothless organisation; it played a key...

-PTI IMPHAL: The 'Iron Lady of Manipur' Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike since 2000 demanding repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), is completing 12 years of fast today. Sharmila, a civil rights activist, began her hunger strike after the death of ten people in an alleged encounter with the Assam Rifles at Malom in Imphal valley on November 2, 2000. She has been demanding repeal of...

-Pratirodh Bureau Condemning the arrest of woman tribal-activist and journalist Dayamani Barla in Jharkhand, rights activists have demanded that the "false cases" against her be dropped and that she be immediately released.   The police have reopened an earlier case registered in 2006, when she spent fourteen days in Judicial Custody, after being charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.   She was arrested again this month, and when granted bail on 19th...