Scheme meant for the tribals has been hijacked by miNINg firms, claim activists The construction of 24 fortified police bases in the midst of Saranda, an 800-sq. km. patch of forested hills veined with a quarter of India's iron ore reserves, has sparked concerns among political activists who believe that a development plan intended for tribals in Jharkhand has been hijacked by miNINg corporations. In October last year, Union Minister for Rural...

Ara, Patna: To any old-timer, the earliest image of the Bihar caste wars is from 1977. Belchhi in Patna had seen 14 Scheduled Caste workers killed, and the enduring image is of a visit by Indira Gandhi, otherwise lying low since the post-Emergency defeat. She had to ride an elephant to the small hamlet of Dalits, the monsoon having waterlogged the approach road. The caste wars Belchhi triggered would not stop...

Friday's murder of Brahmeshwar Singh, chief of the outlawed Ranvir Sena (a private army owing allegiance to the powerful upper caste Bhumihars) in Bhojpur, 71 km from Patna, could become a major test for the seven-year-old Nitish Kumar government's continued ability to maintain social harmony in Bihar. Within hours of the killing in the early hours, Singh's supporters went on the rampage, upsetting the delicate caste equilibrium in south Bihar,...

-Daily Bhaskar Indore: Thousands of tribals on Friday staged a dharna at Silawad police station in Badwani district to protest the district administration’s notice of externment against noted activist Madhuri Krishnaswami. The tribals said it is the district administration that deserved to be externed for resorting to unconstitutional step against Madhuri Ben. The move has sparked protests across the state. Tribals have now started serving “externment (zila badar) notices” to the collector and...

-The Telegraph The Centre has renewed efforts to forge a consensus on allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail by writing to all chief ministers, seeking to drive home the urgency against the backdrop of grim economic data. “Letters have been written to all chief ministers to build consensus to open up the multi-brand retail sector to FDI,” a commerce ministry official said. The statement came a day after the country posted its...