-The Hindu Isolated innovations are not enough to stop cases of custodial torture In May 2017, addressing representatives from countries at the UN’s Human Rights Council, the then Attorney General of India said, “The concept of torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the governance of the nation.” Last week in Sitamarhi district, Bihar, two families received the bodies of their two sons from the police. The...

-Livemint.com While there has been progress in providing electricity to rural households, there have been no real efforts to improve the quality of power supply Delivering electricity to nearly every village in India has been one of the most celebrated achievements of the Narendra Modi government. However, a study by Sreekumar Nhalur and others published in the latest Economic and Political Weekly suggests it may be too soon to celebrate. The authors argue...

-Down to Earth While power consumption in agriculture is overestimated, a number of factors influence groundwater extraction. A new study done by Pune-based non-profit Prayas shows that India’s agriculture sector cannot be held responsible for financial stress on electricity distribution companies (discoms) and for declining groundwater. The study titled, Understanding the Electricity, Water & Agriculture Linkages, argues that not only is the subsidy given to agriculture in India overestimated, the relation between subsidy...

-Scroll.in Between 2007 and 2016, in 80.9% of reported cases, individuals in police custody in the state died before being produced in court, according to government data. On Sunday, a Dalit man died while in police custody on the outskirts of Dhanera town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. Lubaram Uttamaram, 25, a migrant labourer from Rajasthan’s Barmer district, was picked up by the police from a check post on the border of...

-TheWire.in Paschimbanga Griha Paricharika Samiti, a Kolkata-based workers' organisation was granted a trade union certificate from the state government. New Delhi: The exploitation and abuse of domestic workers has been prevalent in India for many years now. In addition to being overworked and underpaid, domestic workers are often ill-treated and in some cases, even physically attacked and sexually harassed. The efforts of Paschim Banga Griha Paricharika Samiti (PGPS-West Bengal Domestic Workers Society), a...