Fourteen-year-old Shafat Ahmad works as a domestic helper in the house of a Srinagar-based government employee in Kashmir. His younger sister embroiders shawls in an unregistered textile venture in her native village of Beeru. "When my father first brought me here, my employer promised to send me to school," Shafat told IPS. Though he is keen to pursue his education, he has yet to attend a single class. The Ahmed siblings' story...

-The Indian Express   After the Supreme Court lawyer and leading light of Anna Hazare’s agitation, Prashant Bhushan, was attacked in public view by thuggish “patriots” for his support of a plebiscite in Kashmir, one would have expected some solidarity from his teammates. Or at least common human sympathy, expressed even by those who have deep and running disagreements with Bhushan. But Anna Hazare offered lukewarm consolation about how it was “wrong...

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...

-The Economic Times   The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to know if the Centre and the CBI were on the same page on the prosecution of the 2G scam accused, given law minister Salman Khurshid's reported statement that investor sentiment would be hurt if courts ordered the arrests of business persons.  A bench of Justices GS Singhvi and HL Dattu said the statement implied that the SC wanted to keep businessmen in...