-Countercurrents.org I am Neena secretary of Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association Manipur (EEVFAM). On 4 November 2008 after enjoying a family lunch, my husband Nongmaithem Michael, went to a friend’s helping him to set up his father’s shradha ceremony. Around 3 p.m. he got a phone call and left the place. At 3.32 p.m. I received a call from him saying that he was apprehended and told me to inform his sister...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court’s unyielding criticism of the government for not eradicating the practice of manual scavenging was the springboard for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to introduce the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012 in the Lok Sabha on September 3. Welcomed as a panacea for the historically iniquitous, caste-ordained practice of manually handling human waste, the new Bill indicates renewed commitment...

-The Times of India The government on Thursday seized upon Supreme Court's ruling that auctions are not mandatory for allocating natural resources as a validation of its stand against the comptroller and auditor general's (CAG) findings in the 2G spectrum and Coalgate cases. Talking to media after the verdict, telecom minister Kapil Sibal and law minister Salman Khurshid welcomed the judgment, suggesting it had vindicated the government's position. Sibal said all constitutional authorities...

-NDTV The Supreme Court has said that it will not hesitate in stopping the work at Kudankulam nuclear power plant if it finds that safety measures at the plant in Tamil Nadu are unsatisfactory. The court made these observations while hearing an appeal against the Madras High Court order that allowed fuel loading at the plant. A bench of justices K S Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra said the safety of plant and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Car users can't be penalized for not switching to public transport system, Delhi high court observed on Monday while analyzing the effectiveness of the BRT corridor. "The policy shouldn't be such that you will be punished for doing something... that's not the way to encourage people to use public transport and discourage use of private vehicles," a division bench comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Manmohan...