Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West Asia as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their basic rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...

Forest dept. can now declare an area wildlife habitat without gram sabha's nod “A mockery of the Forest Rights Act” Claims of 5 lakh acres rejected in A.P. alone Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat came down heavily on the Centre, accusing it of issuing an illegal circular that defeated the very spirit of the Forest Rights Act and jeopardised tribals' interests. Ms. Karat, who is also the...

Several species of fish unique only to the waters of Kashmir are in danger of extinction due to high levels of pollution, environmentalists say. Limnologist and professor A. R. Yousuf, a specialist in fresh water lakes and rivers, says the excessive and unchecked use of pollution-causing herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers of sub-standard quality dumped into Kashmir waters is the main threat to the survival of these fish species. Yousuf’s list of endangered...

After Right to Food, the Supreme Court has taken up the issue of Right to Education to ensure that every government-run school in India has requisite  number of teachers, potable water, toilets, safe building and other such facilities for students. A bench headed by justice Dalveer Bhandari on Tuesday ordered all the district collectors and magistrates to submit  a report in this regard within four weeks to the chief secretary/ administrator...

Tensions run high within the Christian community in Thachur village, and the government has adopted a hands-off approach for now. THE wrinkles on S. Royappan's face are a result of advancing age, but the ridges and furrows in them tell a story of humiliation of this Dalit Christian, as also others like him. Royappan, 82, was a bonded labourer, or padiyaal, in Thachur village in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district, but...