Company consistently violated tenets of Cement Wage Board Award ACC says it is studying the court ruling and examining options Every evening about 500 workers shrug off the exhaustion of an eight-hour shift to protest outside the premises of ACC Ltd.'s Jamul cement factory in Durg, Chhattisgarh. Closed fists swing rhythmically to chants of “Inqilab zindabad,” as factory veterans who have been protesting for 20 years stand beside young men with little...

It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi. Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After...

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred hearing rightsactivist Dr. Binayak Sen's petition seeking bail and suspension of the life sentence awarded to him by a trial court and confirmed by the Chhattisgarh High Court on charges of conspiracy to commit sedition and providing assistance to those said to be Naxalites. A Bench of Justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad posted the petition for hearing to April 18 on a request for...

The Supreme Court today wondered whether faulty development practices were the “root cause” of the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh, and asked the state how many agreements it had signed with multi-nationals and how it was using the state’s financial resources. It also asked the state government to explain how and under what rules it recruited and armed the Koya commandos — special police officers (SPOs) fighting the Maoists. “How many MoUs (memoranda...

Many work in unscientifically built mines, employing crude methods and risking their lives The mines in Hazaribagh district are manned mostly by children aged between 7 and 17 Exposure to dust and coal particles has left them with respiratory problems Javir Kumar, 14, works in illegal coal mines, each a “rat hole,” 10x10 foot and 400 foot deep, where a mere slip of the foot will plunge one to a certain death. A large...