-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Hours before he was removed from the land consolidation department, Haryana's whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka had framed a few novel rules to put an end to fraudulent benami land deals in the state. In his last-ditch effort to rein in land sharks, Khemka, the then inspector general of registration, on October 10, made the Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India mandatory for...

-The Indian Express But in this year of the scam, the political class must refrain from lashing out at the messenger To shoot the messenger while simultaneously shooting yourself in the foot is a feat of marksmanship that politicians are performing with agility. The achievement is being recorded by the pitiless gaze of the camera — which is also the cause of all the excitement. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh...

-The Hindu The local community, especially men, have been roped into a project in 22 Maharashtra villages to stop female foeticide and discrimination against the girl child In India, the irony never ceases. While the country venerates several female deities of wealth, learning and valour, it also practises blatant discrimination against the girl child. Going by statistics revealed by the census and various government as well as independent studies, it has been...

-The Hindu The District Administration of Yavatmal, Maharashtra, has declared 664 Gram Panchayat members from the district as “ineligible” on Tuesday “for failing to construct a toilet in their houses”. There are 1207 Gram Panchayats in Yavatmal district with 6,272 members. The membership of 664 Gram Panchayat members from different Gram Panchayats of Yavatmal district has been cancelled by the district administration for failing to construct a toilet at their houses within the...

-Down to Earth 'Will the Indian government abandon mining projects to protect us?' ask residents of Singrauli who face displacement because of Mahan coal project Ever since India assumed presidency of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on October 8, it has never missed a chance to reiterate its commitment to conserving biodiversity and protecting indigenous people and their traditional knowledge. Indian officials attending the ongoing CoP 11 meet at Hyderabad have...