-The Indian Express Manual scavenging laws will need to be supported by better sanitation policies. The recent passage of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill by Parliament is a welcome, long-overdue step in the right direction. The bill replaces the outdated and rarely implemented 1993 law, which purported to abolish manual scavenging. It has been passed primarily due to a sustained campaign by thousands of former women...

-The Indian Express Seeking to give the credit for the fresh and more all-encompassing title of the new Land Acquisition Act to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said Sunday it was Gandhi who suggested the title of the Bill. Both Houses of Parliament passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill last week. The new Act replaces the over a century old Land...

-The Hindu Jind (Haryana): "They brought the body to the morgue and asked the women to take a look. Her body was lying sprawled on the stretcher and her neck seemed broken. Her arm was twisted inwards at the wrist as if by force. Her feet seemed to have been tied with a strong rope and her salwar was drenched in blood. There were round burn marks around her neck and...

-The Telegraph The Centre today sought to allay fears that the proposed land acquisition law would discourage industrialisation and delay projects, saying it had "humane" provisions based on lessons from the Singur agitation. "The fears are largely exaggerated and overblown. Any bill that closes the door on forcible acquisition is also in the interests of the nation," rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said, alluding to concerns expressed by industry bodies over the...

-FoodFirst.org NEW YORK CITY-Five innovative grassroots groups from across the globe working for democratic access to land, seeds, water and food have been honored with the 2013 Food Sovereignty Prize, the US Food Sovereignty Alliance announced today. Winners of the fifth annual Food Sovereignty Prize were chosen from among more than 40 inspiring projects creating on-the-ground solutions to hunger and poverty, said the alliance, a network of food justice, anti-hunger, labor, environmental,...