-Frontline The 64th Republic Day was a special occasion for the Dalits of Kokkampatti in Karur district. It was poetic justice that on this historic day, the caste Hindu residents of the village signed an accord with them to end the centuries-old practices of un-touchability and dis-crimination against Dalits, in the presence of the local authorities. Through the agreement the caste Hindus have promised to live in harmony with members of...

-Outlook The Supreme Court today decided to examine alleged non-implementation and non-compliance of its guidelines on the issue of strikes and 'dharnas' by political parties and others which have in many cases resulted in destruction of public and private property. A bench comprising justices P Sathasivam and J S Khehar issued notices to the Centre and all state governments and sought their responses on the allegation that the apex court guidelines issued in this...

-Outlook Most of the child victims of sexual assault in India face humiliation while undergoing medical tests apart from police who often do not believe their account, according to a Human Rights Watch report. The 82-page report, 'Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India', released today found government's responses were falling short in protecting children from sexual abuse and treating the victims. It asked the government to improve protection for children from...

-PTI National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued notice to Union Health Secretary and Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on a complaint alleging that more than 8,200 children have died at the institution in the past five years. The panel issued the notices returnable in four weeks on the complaint by RH Bansal alleging that more than 8,200 children up to the age of five years died during the last...

-Down to Earth MoEF waives requirement of obtaining gram sabha certificates for linear projects. Will it dilute forest Rights of people? Gram sabhas or village councils will no longer have the power to reject building of roads, railways, transmission lines or other such linear projects. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), on February 5, exempted developers of such projects from the requirement to obtain  consent of the gram sabhas to...