A United Nations report titled The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples says the indigenous people and tribes worldwide are facing extinction and exploitation due to threats of displacement and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources. It takes note of the displacement of thousands of families of the Santhal Adivasis in the Indian State of Jharkhand as a result of extraction of minerals, without proper compensation or economic security. The...

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh was heckled by farmers and others opposing Bt Brinjal at a public meeting on the introduction of the genetically modified (GM) vegetable in the country by a US multinational. Ramesh was greeted with protests when he arrived at the Central Research Institute for Dryland Farming on the outskirts of this city for the meeting on Sunday. Scores of protestors, including farmers, activists...

In an attempt to crackdown on speculators and hoarders within the country, suspected to be in league with international operators in driving up the prices of pulses and other food items, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken up the investigation of the Rs 250-crore pulses scam with the agency questioning Naresh Jain, an alleged associate of international don Dawood Ibrahim. Jain was last month Arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau...

A man who claimed he accepted a supari (contract) of Rs 1 lakh to kill RTI activist Satish Shetty but backed out when he realised his target was “working for the benefit of the common man” led police in Pune to an advocate who has been Arrested in connection with the Shetty murder case. Pune rural police today sought court permission for brain-mapping and a narco test on advocate Vijay...

As part of its campaign against “paid news,” the Editors Guild of India has asked all editors to endorse a pledge that they will act against any attempt to put out advertising as news without proper disclosure. Editors have also been requested to publish/broadcast the editorial statement in their respective publications/channels to Arrest the erosion of public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. This editorial statement is...