-The Hindustan Times West Bengal Police have raided the office of a leading publisher and instructed him not to sell a book critical of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the state government. Incidentally, the book has been written by Nazrul Islam, additional director general (TRAIning) of WB police. The IPS officer’s book titled Musalmander Koronio (What Muslims Should Do) was released by Mitra and Ghosh Publishers about a week ago and discusses the...

-The Hindustan Times As news filtered in of extended life sentences for 31 persons for the brutal slaughter 10 years ago in Naroda Patiya, a working-class suburb of Ahmedabad, my eyes clouded over. I remembered my first meetings with the traumatised survivors of the massacre in the crowded relief camps in the city, a full decade earlier. I was heartsick and stunned by their stories of incredible cruelty. I wondered if...

-The Hindu A campaign launched by a community service institution to make selected villages in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan shed the below poverty line (BPL) tag has immensely benefited the poor families in the region and facilitated creation of new employment opportunities, small entrepreneurships and income-generating ventures. The youth and women are especially getting involved in new enterprises in large numbers. Kheria Purohit village in Deeg tehsil of Bharatpur district, where 15...

-The Indian Express The Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal has banned controversial IPS officer Nazrul Islam’s book, Musalmander Ki Karaniya (What Muslims Should Do), in which he has highlighted the alleged plight of Muslims in the state and the “double standard” of the present government in “improving” their condition. The book, which was released a month ago, has been published by Kolkata-based publisher Mitra and Ghosh. On Saturday, officials from the Enforcement...

-The Hindu Laws count for nothing when some of the worst offenders are government-run bodies, agencies and enterprises. The Central government is trying to push through the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, under pressure from the Supreme Court; but, going by the experience of the past few decades, there is no cause to assume the dehumanising practice of manual removal of human excreta will soon...