An environmental scientist continues his relentless battle to save the Ganga, this time by starting a fast unto death. THE campaign to save the Ganga has cost one life in the hill State of Uttarakhand. The life of another activist now hinges on the government's commitment. In 2011, Swami Nigamananda of Matri Sadan undertook a fast unto death demanding an end to illegal sand mining in the Ganga, at least in Haridwar...

-The Hindustan Times   Rambai, a lean and sprightly 34-year-old, has never been the quiet sort. So when her neighbours at the Rokra hamlet were asked to choose a community health worker (CHW) — called Mitanin (friend) in Chhattisgarh — they knew that Rambai would be an ideal candidate. “We selected her because she could communicate well and interact with officials with ease, even though she has studied till Class 5,” said...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Budget 2012, built yet again at the altar of fiscal fundamentalism, will not convince anybody. In this era of immediate assessment it took just a few minutes for the Union Budget for 2012-13 to be given one or the other negative appellation – “lacklustre”, “anti-growth”, “back to the 1980s”, “without reform” and the like. Such evaluations forget that union budgets have long since ceased to be statements of...

Kin of many slain whistleblowers were present at Anna's fast Coming down heavily on the government, social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said nothing was being done to protect the whistleblowers who play a crucial role in fighting corruption. Families of several whistleblowers who lost their lives in the fight against corruption turned up at Mr. Hazare's day-long fast at Jantar Mantar here. Team Anna said at least 15 people who tried to...

Says respond else face action Annoyed by the non-submission of reports regarding illegal clinical trials of breast cancer drug, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Union health ministry and the Andhra Pradesh government. It has asked the Centre and the state government to respond within six weeks or face action. The commission had in June last year sent notices to the Union health secretary, secretary of the...