Kanak Dixit: We have with us Aruna Roy, from Devdungri village in Rajasthan, who has, among other things, been able to take the Right to Information (RTI) from janasunuwais, or public hearings at the village level, all the way to national legislation that encompasses all of India. It is a movement that is truly global in scale. Aruna, a question that has been troubling me quite a bit in the context...
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Delhi government told to expedite flat allotment to 20,000 slum dwellers
-PTI The 27-year-long wait of slum dwellers to own a house in the capital may soon end with the Delhi High Court asking the city government and its agencies to devise a time-bound plan to allot flats to 20,000 beneficiaries of a scheme launched way back in 1985. "The Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi shall convene a meeting to be attended by the Principal Secretary, Department of Urban Development as...
More »Guardians of faith by Purnima S Tripathi
In Chhattisgarh, Hindutva manifests itself in the form of attacks on Christians; in Uttarakhand it does so in the form of promoting Sanskrit. IN Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, States ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindutva agenda may not be strident, but the Sangh Parivar orientation is unmistakable in various government policies and programmes. While in Uttarakhand the party places much emphasis on gau mata (bovine goddess) and the teaching of...
More »Govt panel seeks law to punish ‘honour’ killers by Mahendra K Singh
Concerned over the spate of crimes allegedly for the sake of "honour", a government panel wants a comprehensive standalone law to punish those who kill or harass young couple from exercising their right to choose their partners. The recommendation for a comprehensive legislation to stop honour killings stems from the recognition of the absence of specific provisions in the Indian Penal Code, which deal with acts of harassment in the name...
More »Arms licences for tribals to 'fight' Maoists
-The Times of India The 700-odd tribals, who had fled their homes and taken shelter at a government accommodation in July last year, returned to their villages atop the Kaimur hills after 39 of them were given arms licences at the state government's behest. At least five tribals were killed in Maoist violence in Kharwar-dominated villages on the hillsfollowing which they abandoned the hills and huddled at Chenari, a block HQ town...
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