-The Telegraph The director-general of the National Investigation Agency, Sharad C. Sinha, was today selected member of the National Human Rights Commission at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, is understood to have given dissenting notes against two appointments to the NHRC, one being that of Sinha, which was not accepted. No decision has been taken on the other...

-The Times of India KENDRAPADA: The state government has decided to facilitate the return of all 52 families, who were driven away from Dhinkia grampanchayat in Jagatsinghpur district about six years ago, for favouring the Posco project. "The district administration has chalked out plans to bring them back to their villages and has also decided to protect them. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also directed the administration recently to help...

-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 Times of India Over 3,700 children, majority of whom are girls, went missing from Delhi homes in the last five years and are still untraceable yet the Delhi government says it has no evidence of organized gangs operating in the national capital indulging in kidnapping or trafficking of children. The Delhi home department through advocate S Wasim Qadri cited a special initiative taken by Delhi Police under 'Pehchan' scheme to photograph...

-The Telegraph The Centre has rejected a plea for removal of K.G. Balakrishnan as National Human Rights Commission chairperson for alleged assets accumulation when he was Chief Justice of India from January 2007 to June 2010. The Union home ministry said papers relating to Balakrishnan’s alleged corruption had been sent to the Union law ministry “for taking appropriate action”. In a recent letter to Common Cause, an NGO, the home ministry said...