We must not allow the pain and suffering of the Sikh victims to be transformed into a political instrument to mute calls for justice for the ‘other' victims of similarly orchestrated massacres. More than a quarter century on, not much remains of ‘1984' — shorthand for one of the largest pogroms in India's postcolonial history when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in retribution for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination — in...
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Ranchi crime graph goes north by Suman K Shrivastava
Unsafe. Risky. Dangerous. No adjective may seem vile enough for Ranchi that has topped the district crime chart in Jharkhand with the highest number of murders, rapes and abductions to its credit. According to the 2010 statistics released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), as many as 183 persons were killed, 92 raped and 128 kidnapped in Ranchi last year. Though the police brass find solace in the fact that...
More »‘Diwali bonanza' to farmers, MSP up for rabi crops
-The Hindu The Union government on Tuesday announced an increase of Rs. 115 in the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat, which has been set at Rs. 1,285 a quintal for the 2012-13 rabi marketing season. The MSP for the previous year was Rs. 1,170 including a bonus of Rs. 50. Terming the increase a “Diwali bonanza to farmers,” Law Minister Salman Khursheed told journalists that the decision was taken at a...
More »Land rush and sustainable food security by MS Swaminathan
Managing our soil and water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner needs a new political vision, which can be expressed through the proposed Land Acquisition Bill and the recently formed Global Soil Partnership. On the basis of a proposal I had made three years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at a multi-stakeholder conference, held...
More »Change in the heartland by Sudha Pai
In contrast to the 1990s, when age-old matters of identity drove electoral politics, it appears that development-related issues such as land acquisition and law and order will play a critical role in the contentious campaign for the UP elections due next year. While this can be attributed to the BSP’s “sarvajan” agenda, it also signals the impact of the market economy and the need to attract private investment, which has...
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