The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the Hooghly District Magistrate to submit a report on the alleged incidents of pilferage and loot at the site of the Tata Motors car factory (since relocated), after the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 came into force.  Justice Soumitra Pal asked the District Magistrate to submit the report by 11 a.m. Friday, when hearing on Tata Motor's petition challenging the constitutional...

-The Hindu   Tata Motors Limited will move the Kolkata High Court on Wednesday against a notification issued by the West Bengal government regarding the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011. The Bill was made into law on Monday after Governor M.K. Narayan gave it the nod. The legislation provides for the State government taking over the land leased to Tata for its small car project and ancillary units at Singur. The government...

-The Times of India   Unperturbed over the stiff protest against the proposed Posco steel plant, the Orissa government on Tuesday said it would start project-related work in areas already acquired in Jagatsinghpur district. The government, however, suspended further land acquisition for the time being. "We have already acquired 1,800 acres of land for the proposed plant near Paradip and are beginning project-related work in the area already acquired," said chief...

Karnataka has among the worst track records in the country in meeting the rights of tribal communities, the latest figures with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs reveal. Recently, the State Government opposed Unesco's nomination of the Western Ghats as a heritage site on the grounds that tribal rights could be violated, and that forest dwelling communities could even face eviction. However, Karnataka features at the bottom of the ranking of States...

For decades, the victims of communal and targeted violence have been denied protections of law that the rest of us take for granted. It's time to end this injustice. In a vibrant and mature democracy, there would be no need to have special laws to prosecute the powerful or protect the weak. If a crime takes place, the law would simply take its course. In a country like ours, however, life...