-The Hindu   SIT says 2004 killing of Ishrat by Gujarat police was staged A Special Investigation Team appointed by the Gujarat High Court has concluded that the sensational Ishrat Jahan encounter of June 15, 2004 — in which the Ahmedabad police claimed they shot dead four Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists on a mission to assassinate Narendra Modi — was entirely staged and the teenaged girl from Maharashtra and the three men who died with...

After the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter of 2005 — which the State CID (Crime) had found to be “fake” — and the Central Bureau of Investigation concluding that the killing of Sohrabuddin's accomplice, Tulsiram Prajapati, a year later was also a fake encounter, the Ishrat Jahan murder case will add further embarrassment to the Narendra Modi government in the State. For the moment, the key issue is who will investigate the murder...

-The Indian Express   Narendra Modi government has justified before the Supreme Court its ongoing probe against social activist Teesta Setalvad in a case of alleged illegal exhuming of bodies of 2002 Gujarat riot victims, saying that she actually planned and executed digging of graves without permission in 2006. In an affidavit, the Gujarat government claimed that during the investigations involving the accused, including her one time close aide Rai Khan Pathan, and...

-The Indian Express   Migration of labourers from Bihar in search of livelihood to places like Punjab and Delhi has declined by over 26 per cent, thanks to initiatives taken by the Nitish Kumar government in the past five years to check their exodus, according to a survey report. Flight of unskilled workers from Bihar to different parts of the country came down by 26.53 per cent in 2006-08 as compared to 2001-03,...

-The Hindu   The United Progressive Alliance government has not delivered on its promise of bringing in legislation against communal violence. After initial talks, the Centre has fallen silent on the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill which needs speedy tabling, a panel comprising drafters of the legislation said at a meeting here on Friday. “Not just the leadership, but the executive too have failed to give...