Expressing concern about the food security of poor people in poverty-stricken KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) region, National Human Rights Commission today directed the Orissa government to present status of its recommendation on implementation of welfare schemes in the area. "The state government has been directed to depute an officer to be present before the commission on March 21, 2011 giving status on the implementation of recommendations of the commission," NHRC Chairperson Justice K...

India's Supreme Court has given the government six weeks to explain the circumstances under which a prominent Maoist was killed last year. Cherukuri Rajkumar was acting as an intermediary to set up peace talks between the Maoists and the Indian government when he was shot dead. One judge said the state could not be allowed to kill its own children. Human Rights activists alleged the victim, also known as Azad, was killed by...

Emily Esplen visited a community in Dhaka where inspiring community organisers are showing change is possible When I met members of the Dalit Women's Forum in Dhaka last month, they told me about the changes they want to see in their lives and communities. They want their daughters to go to school and stay in school. They want privacy and security when bathing in communal areas. They want health care and...

The trial court judgment holding Binayak Sen guilty of sedition has led to widespread outrage. IN India's legal history, no trial court judgment in a criminal case has perhaps caused as much international outrage as the December 24, 2010, judgment of the Second Additional District and Sessions Judge of Raipur, B.P. Verma, did. In his 92-page judgment, Judge Verma convicted Dr Binayak Sen, the well-known Human Rights activist and medical...

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act has in its four years faced many challenges in implementation, says a monitoring report. FIVE years ago, Parliament enacted a significant piece of legislation relating to women. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005, designed as a civil law, came into effect a year later, in October 2006. The fundamental feature of the Act was that it empowered magistrates...