-The Indian Express Serkapadi, Rayagada: Vedanta Aluminium's controversial plan to mine the Niyamgiri hills for bauxite received a major jolt Thursday after local tribal people unanimously rejected the proposal, claiming religious and cultural rights over the entire hills after 200 minutes of high drama and suspense. In the first of the 12 pallisabhas or village meetings held in Serkapadi on the hills of Rayagada district, 36 registered voters of the village present...

-Down to Earth Agricultural growth rate figures in the state appear to be unrealistic if one considers farm suicides and increase in number of landless farm labourers I am in a dilemma over the veracity of the data available on the state of agriculture in Madhya Pradesh. Perhaps, the reader could help me in this effort. Chances are he or she could be as befuddled as I am on the matter. In...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Wednesday was a historic day for women in courts, with the Supreme Court finally FRAming regulations to protect women lawyers from sexual harassment at the hand of male counterparts within the court complex, including inside chambers within the apex court's precincts. The regulations - spelling the triumph of a 16-year-long campaign by women advocates - have taken a broader definition of "sexual definition" to include sending...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With an unregulated surrogacy industry thriving in India, rich couples are preying on domestic helps and housemaids coercing them to step up to the task. There is little or no protection for the surrogate mother controlled in the most part by a web of middle-men with medical practitioners choosing to turn a blind eye to this controversial transaction. These are part of the conclusions drawn...

-IANS New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday banned over-the-counter sale of acid at retail outlets and ordered a compensation of Rs.3 lakh to be paid by the government to each acid attack victim. An amount of Rs. 1 lakh will have to be paid to an acid attack victim within 15 days, the court said. The apex court bench, headed by Justice R.M. Lodha, issued detailed directions for regulating the sale of...