-The Indian Express Nagri, Bhojpur: Residents of Nagri in Bihar’s Bhojpur had spent 12 years waiting for justice after the killing of 10 people, nine of them of scheduled castes and OBCs and one a Muslim, during a caste attack on May 11, 1998. And after they felt justice had finally come, it proved short-lived. “First, we had to wait 12 years before the lower court finally handed the death sentence to...

-Outlook Opposing the plea of December 16 gangrape accused to use as evidence a CD containing the interview of the victim's friend given to a news channel, the police today told the Delhi High Court that a "media interview of a Witness is inadmissible evidence under the law." Special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan, appearing for the Delhi police, told Justice G P Mittal that "media interview in any nature is completely barred...

-The Times of India Last year's unusually dry summer and this winter's unprecedented snowfall, the worst in nearly 50 years, in Ladakh's Changtang area has claimed over 18,000 "pashmina" goats, the source of one of the finest varieties of wool that has put the region on the world map. Changtang is a high altitude plateau in southeastern Ladakh, inhabited by Changpa (Champa) nomads, and known for its harsh and semi-arid weather with...

-The Hindu Fasting Manipuri activist refuses to plead guilty to suicide attempt charge Manipur’s Irom Chanu Sharmila on Monday pleaded not guilty before a court here to the charge of “attempting to commit suicide” during a fast-unto-death she undertook at Jantar Mantar in 2006. She told the court that she would not give up her fast until the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was repealed. Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain told her: “Madam,...

-The Hindu As Marathwada’s groundwater table plummets to 500 ft, farmers here, as in other districts, are freely violating the law in a frantic bid to strike water. Mahadeo Mule has invested Rs. 1 lakh during the past five months to save his crops and livestock, drilling at five different points on his land, despite already having a borewell. He has also spent close to Rs. 35,000 on water from private...