-NDTV Kadavanchi: Lush green vineyards, tons of luscious grapes, acres of maize and jowar, and most importantly, millions of litres of water- images that are in stark contrast to the despair visible across Marathawada's eight districts. This isn't Maharashtra's greener western belts of Konkan and Raigad, but this oasis is in the Jalna district in the heart of the Marathawada region which is in the grip of the worst drought since...

-The Hindu Kota, Rajasthan: The sun is about to set over grey-brown slabs in sandstone quarries in Kota district, Rajasthan. Babulal Khairwa sits at the edge of a quarry and attentively hits a taanki, a chisel shaped like a gigantic nail, placed on the stone with a hammer. Babulal hits the stone with the hammer till it cracks in a straight line. Each 2 by 10 square feet foot slab, or...

-The Guardian Communities have more hope than ever of seeing off companies trying to acquire their land, with support from media and NGOs A new report on land acquisition by the Munden Project/Rights and Resources Initiative brings an important angle to the land "grab" debate. Rather than focusing on the ethics of land grabbing, the report makes the business case for working with local communities, arguing that failure to inform or fairly...

-The Hindu In carrying out Afzal Guru’s death sentence, the government deliberately ignored the view of the Supreme Court and courts across the world that hanging a person after holding him in custody for years is inhuman The execution of Afzal Guru on February 9, 2013 was an inhumane act by the Government of India. Afzal Guru was hanged seven years after the Supreme Court’s pronouncement of the death sentence on him...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Veerappan's Aides till Wednesday. The apex court sAid though the petition filed by an advocate on behalf of the convicts is not maintainable, the case of 4 condemned prisoners were similar to the case of other death row convicts pending consideration of the Supreme Court. SC's decision came after the defence advocate informed the court that he has now got...