The National Alliance of Peoples’ movement (NAPM), an organization of dozens of grassroots movements and civil society groups all over India, has expressed full solidarity with noted Gandhian Himanshu Kumar of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram demanding restoration of peace and just governance in Chhattisgarh. Himanshu Kumar has gone on an indefinite hunger strike at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh from Saturday December 26 amidst reports of government’s preparation to launch an all out...

A bench of the Supreme Court recently said: “When you say it is the world’s oldest profession and when you are not able to curb it by laws, why don’t you legalise it?” Really? While dealing with a PIL filed by Bachpan Bachao Andolan about large scale child trafficking in the country, a Supreme Court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice AK Pattnaik are reported to have advised the...

Hokum must have its kingdom. The judicial report on the culpability for the crime perpetrated on December 6, 1992, was first leaked and then laid on the floor of Parliament. The predictable sequel was an uproarious parliamentary debate. Countrymen are however not any more enlightened than they already were. That horrid outrage was committed over 17 years ago, in broad daylight, with the world’s media looking on. Thousands watched the proceedings...

The global drive to eradicate malaria is beginning to show dividends, with more than a third of the most affected African nations slashing the number of cases of the deadly infection by half, according to a new United Nations health agency report released today. The 2009 World Malaria Report, produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), said that funding to fight the mosquito-borne disease had more than doubled, from $730...

Business lobbyists complain that a regulatory tsunami is on its way. But some firms are embracing the proposed reforms “WHEN people hear the word regulation, they feel stifled, delayed, and many times they believe that government is being intrusive,” said Hilda Solis, America’s labour secretary, on December 7th as she unveiled plans for 90 new regulatory initiatives to improve the lot of workers. If you doubt her word, try mentioning regulation...