Why were two tribals and the Essar group framed by the Chhattisgarh police? Why are Soni Sori and Linga Kodopi being systematically silenced? This chilling story of one family reveals more about India's Naxal crisis than any official document can. AS I sit to write this, at 12.20 pm on 4 October 2011, an SMS pops up on my phone: “Soni Sori has been arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch.” The...

-The Times of India   Lavasa, touted as India's first planned hill city, suffered a setback on Friday. The Union environment and Forests ministry refused to grant Lavasa, being built near Pune, a green clearance till the Maharashtra government takes action against the project for its existing violations. The company cannot continue construction work till it gets the clearance. The ministry's order is bound to delay the project for a while, if not...

As many as 56 villages in the Saranda Forests, freed from over 10 years of Maoist dominance in a month-long offensive in August, is set to see a new era of development with the Centre planning to showcase it as a test case to prove that police action is no impediment to building social infrastructure. Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who visited the Jharkhand capital last week, has sent a...

-The Times of India   Government babus will now not have to struggle to find Hindi words for commonly used English words like 'awareness', 'regular', 'de-Forestation', 'programme', 'rain-water harvesting', and 'higher education' while making notes in Hindi.  Their copy can use a mix of Hindi and English words without any adverse remark as long as they use the English words in the Devnagri script. The home ministry recently issued comprehensive guidelines on use of...

-FAO   Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, the United Nations' three Rome-based agencies said in the global hunger report published today.    Small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially at risk.  Many of them still face severe problems following the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008, the UN Food and...