-The Telegraph Srinagar: If appetite for capital punishment has been whetted in the country, Padshah Begum’s experience today should serve as a timely note of caution. The 60-year-old lady in Srinagar received word this afternoon that Delhi High Court has taken her son off death row because “serious lapses” marked the police investigation into a blast in the capital in 1996. She is no stranger to such news: two years ago, her eldest...

-The United Nations The United Nations agency tasked with advancing gender equality today announced a new initiative that will spotlight countries’ commitments to end violence against women and girls, seeking bold action and leadership to galvanize efforts to end the pandemic. “We all must do better to protect women and prevent this pervasive human Rights violation,” said the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Women...

-The Hindu Students’ reports on worksites detail violation of basic Rights Bangalore: Who exactly owns responsibility for the safety of workers at Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) sites, where there have been several incidents of accidents leading to grievous injuries and deaths? This query raised by a group of students — who did a detailed study of the condition of workers at BMRCL sites in 2009 and a follow-up study earlier this...

-Farmlandgrab.org Oxfam’s Phil Bloomer reports on the shocking scandal of (mostly) secretive land-grabbing, usually from those least able to defend their Rights Land grabbing has fast become a major threat to poor communities in Africa, Asia and South America. Poverty-stricken women and men are being driven from their homes and the land they rely on to grow food to eat and make a living, usually without compensation. In many cases this is...

-The Business Standard No full stops for forcible acquisition, poor compensation Lawmakers have been tinkering with a new land acquisition regime for a cynically long number of years. However, there is no change at the ground level. The news that a displaced woman in Madhya Pradesh immolated herself last week, starting a Chita (funeral pyre) satyagraha, was buried below the fold in the last page of newspapers. Meanwhile, more and more gross...