-PTI   Seer of Haridwar-based Matri Sadan Ashram, Swami Nigamanand, who was on fast for nearly four months demanding immediate stopping of quarrying in Ganga and shifting of Himalaya stone crusher from Kumbh mela area, on Monday died in a hospital near here. District Magistrate of Haridwar R Meenakshisundaram said Swami Nigamanand (36) died at the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences at Jolly Grant this afternoon. Nigamanand had begun his fast on February...

Survey shows Congo, Pakistan and Somalia also fail females, with rape, poverty and infanticide rife Targeted violence against female public officials, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country in which to be born a woman, according to a global survey released on Wednesday. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Pakistan, India and Somalia feature in descending order after Afghanistan in the list of the five worst...

The battle against Posco appeared to be reaching a crucial stage as around 2,000 protectors today continued to block the entry of police and officials into Dhinkia and Gobindapur even as an Opposition delegation visited the area to lend support to the people’s movement. As the protesters refused to budge, the officials were forced to return empty-handed after a five-hour-long wait. The movement against the 12-million-tonne Posco steel project got a big...

-PTI   The National Advisory Council (NAC) has prescribed a seven-point test for a having a humane legislation on land acquisition and rehabilitation. In a letter to the government, the NAC chaired by Sonia Gandhi, has suggested a check list of seven parameters which includes provisions for a rehabilitation package that is sensitive to the aspirations of the affected people. NAC’s check list Does it discourage forced displacement? Does it minimise adverse impacts on people,...

Victims have not forgotten the following brutal tragedies in the life of independent India, even if the State and political parties may pretend to have. 1984—Delhi: On October 31, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards in revenge for ‘Operation Bluestar’. For the next three days, as Doordarshan telecast the lying in state of her body, over 3000 Sikhs—men and boys—were burnt alive while policemen, politicians and...