-The Hindu   On the first anniversary of the Uttarakhand disaster, here's a look at issues plaguing the fledgling state. On June 16, it will be a year since Uttarakhand experienced its worst natural disaster. It was also a year of loss, of grief, of recovery and of resilience. While those affected continue to cope and rise, we need to look beyond the disaster in order to unravel the contradictions and challenges that...

-The Indian Express   Ludhiana: Even as the paddy season began on June 10, farmers are still busy wooing labourers to work in their farms, while many landlords have increased bounties to attract previous year's workers. They are offering unlimited rations, milk, non-vegeterian food once a week, mobile recharge, Bhojpuri music while farmers work in the fields and much more. Migrant labourers usually work in Punjab fields but with MNREGA providing employment at...

-Deccan Chronicle   The first time I ever had to get back to my car within five minutes of stepping out to cover an event was on April 7 this year. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was visiting the riot affected areas of Shamli and was scheduled to address a rally as a part of his political campaign. Teenage boys on tractors, young men on the roof of buses, men in the...

-The Hindu Business Line     A government run by a bevy of economists with no sense of the ground reality made mistakes. Some really big ones As the new government settles down to tackle the myriad problems confronting it, it's worth taking a quick glance at the principal reasons for the spectacular unravelling of the UPA-2 government. A defining characteristic of UPA-2 was that it was led by an economist and supported by prominent...

-MainstreamWeekly.net   A fact-finding team, comprising Rajan Singh (Actionaid), Ram Kumar (Dynamic Action Group), Ramdular (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights-NCdhr), Neetu (Humsafar Support Centre for Women), Shubhangi Singh (AALI) and Shilpi Aggraval (SAKAR Sanstha, Bareilly), visited Katra Sahadatganj village in Dattaganj Block in UP's Badaun district where the abduction, gang rape and murder of two minor girls allegedly by three brothers Pappu Yadav, Avdesh Yadav, Urvesh Yadav, sons of Vir Yadav,...