-The Hindu District Mineral Foundations were set up to protect the interests of Adivasi communities who have borne the costs of mining. But they are flawed in their current form Through 2011-13, dogged investigators from the Justice M. B. Shah Commission on illegal mining toured the rust-red villages, forests and rivers of northern Odisha, and trawled through reams of official records including from the environment, minerals, railways, and revenue departments. They met...

-The Times of India Samarin Bai, a 50-year-old Baiga tribal woman from Mahamai village lives in the dense Achanakmar forests of Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh. A few days back, she decided to see a doctor for the big lump that had developed at the base of her neck and various other problems. Although there is a government sub-centre 6kmsix kilometers away, she knew that there was only one auxiliary nurse cum midwife...

-The Times of India AURANGABAD/ KOLHAPUR: The parched Marathwada region and scarcity-hit parts of western Maharashtra received much-needed rainfall over the past two days. The sudden heavy showers brought cheer to the farming community that has been worried about the survival of the kharif crop. Barring Aurangabad district, widespread showers were observed in the seven districts of Marathwada region on Monday. Around 21 areas from Marathwada have recorded more than 50 mm...

-The Indian Express As many parts of the country reel under a back-to-back drought, Kavitha Iyer reports from the region that’s at the centre of the crisis. Weeks before hanging himself from a tree on his farm on June 1 this year, Kalyan Khomne, 55, read out a newspaper report to his son Shahdev. “It was about a farmer’s suicide in our taluka,” says 26-year-old Shahdev. His village, Nandurghat, and the nearby...

-Hindustan Times Bangalore: He wore a crisp white shirt with matching trousers, a golden wristwatch and lots of gold jewellery. And yet, Bhimsen (name changed) hesitated before stepping inside the vast doors of the five-star hotel. A bellhop rushed towards him eagerly and ushered him into the banquet hall where the Dalit Samrakshana Samithi (DSS) was holding a seminar on Monday on BR Ambedkar's contribution to modernising India. The event at the...