‘Linking the question to annihilation of caste is an important research agenda' ‘Dalits' position relative to dominant castes has not improved significantly' Participants at a national seminar on ‘Dalit households in village economies,' which began here on Friday, affirmed that a lasting solution to India's “agrarian question” — characterised by extreme inequalities in the distribution of land — was inseparably linked to the widespread discrimination of Dalits. Speaking at the inaugural session of...

The locals of Singur have assured Tata Motors of full cooperation for setting up a plant, prompting the industrial giant to consider meeting the representatives in this regard. Tata Motors has indicated it will meet Representatives of landlosers who had given land for Tata''s Nano manufacturing plant before the company withdrew from the state in 2009 following violent local protests. They were seeking higher land price besides other demands from Tatas''. "I can...

Safai karmacharis are set to end their two-decade-long movement for a life of dignity on a victorious note. DECEMBER 31, 2010. As revellers across the world prepare to celebrate the end of the first decade of the new millennium and the start of a new year, a million women across India will be celebrating not the end of a calendar year but the end of a centuries-old degrading and inhuman...

They're part of a conspiracy to aid CPI (Maoist)'s goal to overthrow Indian state: police Expert testified that the letters were probably written by Sanyal Sanyal says police coerced him into writing them “Dear Friend, I hope you are well. Have not had any news from you for many days. No letter either. I hope everything is well. Do send a letter sometimes.” On May 6, 2007, this letter (written in Bengali) and...

An uneasy calm has descended over the village of Bishnupur-Chainpur, currently a hotbed of passionate agitation against a proposed Rs.31-crore asbestos factory to be set up by the Kolkata-based Balmukund Cement and Roofing Ltd (BCRL). As the impasse between the village residents and the company management continues, environmentalists and asbestos experts over the world are petitioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to firmly consign the “killer dust” jinn back into the bottle. On...