Blood spilt in the Hashimpura massacre and riots in 1987 remain fresh for survivors Nearly 25 years old, the black-and-white photograph of his son’s body has begun to fade but Jamaluddin Ansari’s anger has not waned. Having lost his eldest son Qamaruddin in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre in Meerut, the 75-year-old still awaits closure. “All prosecution witnesses have said what they had to state at the court but it keeps...

This is called moron management. Instead of debating nuclear safety, India’s Prime Minister is trotting out conspiracies AS SPIN doctors go, the UPA and its media advisers have proved to be pretty good. But as the elected government of the world’s largest democracy, their attitude towards public debate on issues of importance such as nuclear or GMO safety comes across as churlish, vengeful and authoritarian. People who believe that the anti-nuclear struggle...

The Union Home Ministry on Friday disowned Additional Solicitor-General P.P. Malhotra's averments in the Supreme Court in the homosexuality case and said the government's stand was not what he argued on February 23. He said homosexuality between two consenting adults was immoral and an offence. Soon after Mr. Malhotra made his submissions before a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya that day, another ASG Mohan Jain told the court...

Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh fare better India is now ranked among the 50 nations with highest under-five child mortality rate. It has been placed at number 46 in the list of 193 countries. India’s neighbours Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh protect their newborns much better and rank 52, 59 and 61 respectively, according to Unicef’s latest ranking. The report—State of the world’s children 2012: children in an urban world— was released on...

Kanak Dixit: We have with us Aruna Roy, from Devdungri village in Rajasthan, who has, among other things, been able to take the Right to Information (RTI) from janasunuwais, or public hearings at the village level, all the way to national legislation that encompasses all of India. It is a movement that is truly global in scale. Aruna, a question that has been troubling me quite a bit in the context...