-MainstreamWeekly.net   A fact-finding team, comprising Rajan Singh (Actionaid), Ram Kumar (Dynamic Action Group), Ramdular (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights-NCdhr), Neetu (Humsafar Support Centre for Women), Shubhangi Singh (AALI) and Shilpi Aggraval (SAKAR Sanstha, Bareilly), visited Katra Sahadatganj village in Dattaganj Block in UP's Badaun district where the abduction, gang rape and murder of two minor girls allegedly by three brothers Pappu Yadav, Avdesh Yadav, Urvesh Yadav, sons of Vir Yadav,...

-The Times of India DEHRADUN: Apparently taking a cue from the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government's recently launched helpline in Delhi for complaints against corrupt officials; the Uttarakhand government has come up with a similar helpline for dealing with illegal mining in the hill state. With this, Uttarakhand has become the only state in the country to have a dedicated helpline for complaints against illegal mining. The Uttarakhand Special Mining Vigilance Force...

-The Hindu For the first time in decades, the Maoists have encouraged calibrated polling in some areas, instead of fanatically implementing a policy to boycott the election The districts of Chhattisgarh partially controlled by Maoists - with 12 Assembly constituencies - voted overwhelmingly in 2013. Compared to 2008, voter turnout in 2013 increased by 9.67 percentage points in 12 constituencies, while the overall polling was 6.81 percentage points higher than in the...

-Kafila.org This fact-finding exercise was coordinated by the CENTRE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS. Team members were the human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander; former Director-General of the Border Security Force, E N Rammohan; Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University; National Integration Council member John Dayal; senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan and CPA Director and senior editor Seema Mustafa. Introduction and Overview The first impression of the Muzaffarnagar countryside, now green...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A person facing murder trial can contest elections, become an MP and even a minister in the Union government, but pendency of a criminal case will not entitle him to a job in the lowest rung of a police force. This is the gist of the Supreme Court's ruling, which set aside concurrent judgments of the Central Administrative Tribunal and the Delhi high court allowing a...