Every eighth urban child in India in the age-group of 0-6 years stays in slums, according to ‘Slums in India – A statistical compendium 2011' published by the Union government. “... about 7.6 million children are living in slums in India and they constitute 13.1 per cent of the total child population of the urban areas of the 26 States/ Union Territories reporting slums,” the report compiled by the National Buildings...

What began as a few whispers is now a booming drumbeat. Powerful senior ministers are asserting that the Right to Information Act (RTI), till now flaunted as one of the UPA government’s biggest gifts to the aam aadmi, is “transgressing into government functioning”. Similar misgivings are being voiced on another constitutional body that has been in the news lately—the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Put together, this has...

-The Hindustan Times   As protesters blocked entry points to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu for the third day in a row, the troubles of the 1,000 families trapped inside the complex deepened with water, milk and other essential supplies beginning to run out. Although V Narayanasamy, minister of state in the prime minister's office, said the government would not abandon the project, one of the officials trapped inside...

-The Hindu   The anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) agitation has been suspended for a day on Monday “to enable people to exercise their franchise in the local body elections.” The decision was taken in the meeting at Kudankulam on Sunday. “However, our protest will continue from October 18 at Idinthakarai where the protestors will continue their indefinite relay fast,” said S.P. Udhayakumar, convener of the anti-KKNPP struggle committee after the meeting which...

-The Hindu   Nearly 20 years of campaigning against child labour in the fireworks industry has only driven the practice underground, a fact-finding study in Sivakasi conduced by a group of non-governmental organisations has said. Commissioned by Campaign Against Child Labour – Tamil Nadu, the study was jointly executed by members of Centre for Child Rights and Development (CCRD), NEED, Sivakasi, Human Rights Foundation, Indian Council for Child Welfare, Manitham of Sivaganga, and...