The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 enacted by Parliament prohibits manual scavenging. As per the Act, no person shall (a) engage in or employ for or permit to be engaged in or employed for any other person for manually carrying human excreta; or (b) construct or maintain a dry latrine. Contravention of these provisions is a criminal offence. So far, the Act has...

Media "stars" named in the Niira Radia tapes were all on television in Spanish inquisition programmes to defend themselves. Unfortunately, the ruse did not work, as all covered themselves with more dirt, and were unable to explain why they were allowing a corporate lobbyist to instruct and direct them as to not only who they should call, but what they should write.One struck a belligerent note, almost shouting at the...

Members of La Via Campesina and other groups condemn market-based solutionsHector Rodriguez, who runs an alternative radio station in Cancun called Reptil, decided on a novel way to protest the commercialisation of forestry.As hundreds of people marched to the venue of the United Nations Climate Change Conference on Tuesday, Mr. Rodriguez walked up to the posse of Mexican policemen with riot shields and launched into an impassioned plea to help...

In a bid to re-target and empower the Dalit population — especially in States like Uttar Pradesh, which is bound for Assembly elections in 2012 — the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, under its new chairman P.L. Punia, has decided to organise camps to apprise Dalits of their legal rights.According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, these awareness camps will be held in all divisions and mandals of...

He challenged 'socialist' Mulayam Singh Yadav, charging him with possessing disproportionate assets, contested elections against BJP stalwart Rajnath Singh and is now responsible for all the furore over the foodgrain scam. Vishwanath Chaturvedi, whose PIL became the basis for high court's December 3 order in the scam, is a compulsive litigant. "I have filed some three dozen public interest litigations of diverse nature," he said here on Tuesday. Most of these...