-The Times of India   Thousands of dalits and tribals took to streets in Sonbhadra on Sunday to protest against the illegal mining taking place in the district. The immediate cause of the protest was the recent mining accident which left over 10 labourers dead. The protesters organised a march and gheraoed the local police station.  They also handed over a memorandum to the district administration. Addressed to the governor, the memorandum demanded...

-The Times of India   The UPA government is bracing for a mega strike on February 28, backed by trade unions cutting across party lines, in protest against rising prices, disinvestment of profit-making PSUs and violation of labour laws among other reasons. They will be joined by around 8 lakh bank employees who are protesting against reforms and outsourcing of jobs.  Almost all sectors, except railways, are likely to come to a stop...

-Eastern Panorama   It’s been almost two months since a 6.9 magnitude earthquake left the Himalayan state of Sikkim devastated. Nine families of Ralak village in Tingchim Mangshilla Gram Panchayat in the North District of Sikkim are still living in make shift relief camps with the mothers cuddling their children under blankets to give them comfort and warmth in the cold November nights. As snow has already covered the mountains visible from...

-The Times of India A report prepared by a few NGOs on child labour in Rajasthan has claimed that women working in mining or stone crushing units often give opium to their infants to keep them quiet while they are working. "Many women bring their infants to the work site if they have no other childcare arrangement. It is not uncommon for mothers to give their infants opium to keep them quiet...

Not only are the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act routinely violated in Chhattisgarh, the adivasis are also short-changed on legislative representation and reservations in government jobs. As the state cedes land to capital while reducing the adivasis to an ornamental presence, there is increasing assertion of adivasi identity, born out of class predicaments and experiences of displacement as much as notions of indigeneity. Supriya Sharma...