-The Hindu The influx of 2.5 lakh Muslims after the 2008 constituency delimitationled to insecurity among Hindus in Dhule, claims social activist Almost two months since six people were killed after communal violence in the north Maharashtra district of Dhule, the aggressive-yet-vulnerable countenance of the town has resurfaced. Citizens, both Hindu and Muslim, reveal that behind the volatility is the small town’s neglected struggle for an identity. A small fight at a local...

-The Hindu Though more people in India are in the textile sector, than in any other of the economy, bar agriculture, hostile and indifferent government policies are giving it short shrift Handloom weavers from all over the country are on a 72-hour hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from today in protest against the government’s textile policy. The protest is led by Rastra Cheneta Jana Samakhya, the State Handloom Weavers’...

-Outlook Chennai: Attempting to capitalise on 300 clear sunny days available in the state annually, Tamil Nadu government today unveiled a new solar energy policy, envisaging to produce over 3000 MW of power, exclusively from solar power, in the next three years. Christened as 'Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2012,' the new initiative of the Jayalalithaa government, with a slew of encouraging features, finds opportunity in the rapidly declining solar power costs...

-The Hindu Not a single case of an offending employer being sent to jail Taking note of the National Human Rights Commission report that 2,780 cases involving about one lakh bonded labourers have been registered, the Supreme Court has ordered a fresh survey by the States to find out the total number of such people still to be rescued from employers. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, disposing of a...

Handloom weavers in Andhra Pradesh are in a crisis brought on by policy blindness and the emphasis on Powerlooms. WHEN P. Pulliah, a weaver in the traditional cotton handloom centre of Chirala in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, describes the sarees he crafts, thread by delicate thread, his face lights up with joy. He animatedly explains that the sarees have a border on both sides. And they are fully embellished, he...