Central Industrial Security Force jawans today allegedly opened fire on villagers who stoned them when asked not to collect money from IISCO Steel Plant-bound trucks at Burnpur. Ramesh Bauri, 23, took a bullet in his stomach. At the Asansol Subdivisional Hospital, his condition was said to be critical. An officer of the force claimed that the jawans had fired in the air but police said Bauri was injured in the CISF firing. A...

Is Bihar on steroids, boosted by an excessive stimulus of dramatically higher public outlays than ever in the past? Like all stimulus, does it also bear the danger of slumping back when it is withdrawn? Is the widely acclaimed growth turnaround a durable and sustainable one? These are among the many issues, which are currently being debated. But first the facts. Bihar is the best turnaround story that the country has seen...

Police detain three witnesses to killings in Gompad village, ban journalists from site  Police decline comment on veracity of claims made in petition filed by Sodi Sambho and others There is concern that the facts surrounding the Gompad killings might never be known Konta: The mystery surrounding the killing of nine Adivasis in Gompad village in Dantewada district in October last year is deepening, with the Chhattisgarh police detaining three more witnesses...

Women’s groups have demanded a comprehensive legislation to address rape and sexual assault. A delegation that met Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily earlier this week, said there was a need to incorporate various substantive and procedural sections in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act to deal with child sexual assault and sexual assault against women. Archaic definition In a memorandum to the Minister, the...

Winner of a national award for Bitter Chocolate, an eye-opener book on child sexual abuse, author-activist Pinki Virani tells Nandita Sengupta the nation has let down its children in the Ruchika Girhotra case. You have said that government response to the Girhotra case is appalling. In the national outrage on Ruchika, government has missed the woods for the trees. I'm appalled that the law minister says we will now strengthen...