-The Business Standard   Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has called for fast tracking construction of rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Naxalite-affected districts. He said this will be the single most important rural development initiative that can significantly transform the ground-level situation in these districts. Ramesh said an additional Rs 15,000 crore was needed to complete all PMGSY projects covering areas with a population of 250 to...

A new house bearing Tara Chand’s name awaits to be occupied by his family. The house was constructed by the government around four months ago, claim members of the Balmiki community in Mirchpur, Haryana. Tara Chand and his physically challenged daughter were burnt alive in April last year during a clash between the Balmiki and Jat communities. His wife and three sons moved to Hisar. On Sunday, the only telling signs...

-The Times of India   Eighty-two of the 97 people accused in the Mirchpur killing of a 70-year-old dalit and his physically challenged daughter were acquitted by a Delhi court for lack of evidence. The then SHO of the area, Vinod Kajal, was also acquitted by the court. All the arrested are from the Jat community, who allegedly killed Tara Chand and his 17-year-old handicapped daughter after they burnt down Chand's hut. The...

-The Telegraph   It was a stormy homecoming for chief minister Tarun Gogoi with members of the All Assam Students’ Union waving black flags and Opposition parties raising the pitch against the Indo-Bangla land-swap deal. From the AASU to former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to the All India United Democratic Front, everyone went after the three-time chief minister for having allegedly sold out the interests of Assam vis-à-vis the land deal as...

A mysterious death in Raipur hospital reveals routine cross-border raids in A.P. by Chhattisgarh police They lock the door when a post-mortem is under way, but the smell of death seeps through the exhaust vents of the mortuary at the Medical College Hospital in Raipur. Outside the morgue, a pack of dogs sniffed the air experimentally; inside, the corpse of Gangraj, a middle-aged Adivasi man lay in body bag in a...