Rajasthan has emerged as the state with the highest incidence of registered atrocities against Dalits across the country. In 2010, the state recorded 51.4 cases of atrocities against Dalits per lakh population under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act. It had registered a similar number of cases in 2009 too. The latest data from the ministry of social justice and empowerment show that five states – Uttar...

The permission given by the Centre for new registrations for export of cotton has brought little cheer either to cotton farmers or to the huge cotton processing industry in Adilabad district. Both the segments feel the move is too little and too late. Almost all the cotton produced in this district has arrived in the markets and no trader has dared stocking cotton bales this season owing to its low price....

-The Times of India   Bihar seems to be becoming a pensioners' paradise with the state spending the highest amount on account of pension among all states, 48% of its revenue earnings. Along with some north-eastern states, Bihar's expenditure on pension, administrative services (salaries etc) and interest payments adds up to more than its total revenue generation.  According to budget documents of state governments, Bihar is the only one among non-special category states...

Roads in Rajasthan are getting a lot of attention under Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi, the Lok Sabha member from the state’s Bhilwara seat. Over the past year, Rajasthan has got more national highways than any other state, and nearly 50 per cent more than the next biggest beneficiary. Joshi succeeded Kamal Nath as highways minister in January 2011. That year, 1,545 km of state highways and other...

The Supreme Court has taken steps to lay down a code for media reporting. This attempt at prior restraint on the media is a dangerous move with precedent from authoritarian polities. In a context where the judiciary has been lax in defending the media from attacks which seek to curb its freedom, such unilateral moves will not remedy bad reporting but rather make conditions worse for the media to play...