-The Hindu The human rights of prisoners in death row are grossly violated, shows Death Penalty India Report “I left my sleeping child at home because the police called me to sign documents. I never got home after that,” said Akira. She is among the 136 prisoners on death row who claimed to have not been informed of the reason for their arrest, a constitutional right. To prepare the Death Penalty India Report,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Out of every 100 death sentences that trial courts pronounce, less than five are upheld by higher courts. About 30% of the remaining prisoners are acquitted, and the sentence is commuted for the rest. What happens to all the people trapped in the maws of criminal justice system, condemned to death? No ministry or agency has a record of how many people India has executed since...

-Livemint.com Environment minister Prakash Javadekar says extreme rainfall events are highly localized and part of the natural variability of the Indian monsoon system New Delhi: Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has admitted that there is a rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the last 40-50 years in India, but doesn’t think the phenomenon is linked with climate change. He was responding to a query raised in...

-The Hindu Last year alone, heat wave killed at least 2,500 people — a 50 per cent increase compared to 2014. Deaths due to extreme summer temperatures have seen a sharp upturn in recent years. Last year alone, heat wave killed at least 2,500 people — a 50 per cent increase compared to 2014. This year seems no different, with the India Meteorological Department predicting an average increase of 1 degree Celsius...

-Livemint.com/ AP Hundreds of millions of people in at least 13 states are reeling from severe drought, a situation that is expected to worsen in the coming months Shahapur: Shantabai Babulkar’s day begins before dawn with a 5 kilometer trek across barren fields and dusty scrubland to fetch water from a distant well for her family. The two metal pots of muddy water that Babulkar, 58, balances on her head and a...