A report of the National People's Tribunal on the 2008 riots in Kandhamal, Orissa, is out. The report that runs into 197 pages points out that the brutality of the violence falls within the definition of 'torture' under international law, particularly the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.   According to the tribunal, headed by Justice A P Shah, communal forces used religious conversions as an issue for political mobilisation...

Compensation will be paid before land takeover The new relief, rehabilitation, and resettlement package drawn up for those providing land for development initiatives in the State has been armed with provisions for substantive compensation, due stakeholder participation, and a social impact assessment, wherever needed. The focus of the package, prepared by the Revenue Department, is on providing a reasonable compensation to project-affected persons (PAPs) and disbursing it before taking possession of the...

Mismatch between potential and experience confounds many a job-seeker, say managers   Mun Ching Yap had gone as a journalist to an airline company to interview its executive official, but her excitement, passion and ability to learn earned her a job as the head of the company's strategic planning department. Ms. Mun, now a columnist and entrepreneur from Malaysia, was 28 years old then. “In Malaysia, the median age of the population is 27,...

-Express News Service   In what could strengthen the case of those seeking lifting of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from parts of J&K and insurgency-hit North-East, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said the AFSPA “remains in force in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern States, conferring an impunity that often leads to the violation of human rights”. This (continuation of AFSPA), a report prepared by the NHRC...

-PTI   An "Accessiblility Initiative" to employ over 2000 people with disabilities in IT-BPO industry was launched here today as part of helping the IT sector take forward the thrust on inclusion and diversity.  Collaborating for the two year advocacy and job placement campaign with a grant of Rs 48 lakh, the Washwani Foundation and NASSCOM Foundation aim at enabling IT-BPO companies to recruit and place the maximum number of young adults with...