-The Hindu Parliament inserted Section 61 A in the Act concerned to legitimise the use of EVMs Kochi (Kerala): The Electronic voting machines (EVMs), now ubiquitous, had a troubled beginning when the gadgets were first introduced in the country, in some of the polling booths of the Paravur Assembly constituency in Ernakulam district in the 1982 Assembly poll. Locked in the battle then were the late Congress leader A.C. Jose and CPI leader...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed concern over growing human rights violations in Chhattisgarh, a Maoist hotbed, with the Centre and rights activists blaming each other for the state's volatile atmosphere. Journalists, lawyers and civil rights activists have reported being targeted and hounded out of Bastar district after being branded Maoist sympathisers. Tribal activist Soni Sori, who had protested against an alleged fake encounter, had her face burnt with...

-PTI Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has declared another 468 villages of parched Saurashtra and Kutch region as 'partially scarcity-hit', taking the total number of such villages reeling under acute water crisis, to nearly 1,000. In addition to the 526 villages which has been put in the red zone in beginning of the month, the state government has added 468 villages in the list through an official notification issued yesterday, taking the total...

-The Indian Express At a time of extreme rural distress, the Centre is violating the basic provisions of the employment guarantee act We are currently in the midst of an unprecedented early drought that is already affecting at least 10 states. Even if the met department’s optimistic prediction of a better-than-normal monsoon comes to pass, it will be at least two months before there is much relief in most rural areas...

-PTI New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up states and union territories for not filing affidavits of steps taken by them for removal of illegal religious structures from public roads and pavements. The apex court was hearing the petition filed in 2006 in which directions were passed earlier to the states to remove unauthorised constructions, including places of worships, from roads and public places. After the states and union territories failed...