-The Telegraph Ranchi: Jharkhand High Court today adjourned a hearing on the Nagri land acquisition controversy till Monday but asked the state to begin a dialogue with villagers who have disrupted construction of campuses of three national academic institutes. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Tatia and Justice Jaya Roy allowed the adjournment since advocate-general Anil Sinha was away in New Delhi, but asked the state government to work out a...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: RTI activists from all over the state have come together to highlight the plight of the RTI users and the failure of the RTI infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. The activists have launched a signature campaign to mop up public opinion on the half-hearted implementation of the Act in the state. The campaign which was launched on Monday has got more than 100 signatures of RTI users from...

-The Hindu   The ever-expanding urban regions have lured workers with a promise of better life. But for those in the unorganised sector, particularly women, city life comes laden with a plethora of difficulties. The photograph of the woman worker raises several questions on working conditions and social security. A study commissioned by the National Commission for Woman on the construction industry highlights the monstrous amount of work a woman worker does. “In...

-The United Nations Punitive laws and human rights abuses are costing lives, wasting money and stifling the global AIDS response, according to a report released today by a United Nations-backed commission.   Entitled HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health, the report by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law – made up of former heads of state and leading legal, human rights and HIV experts, and supported by the UN...

With the threat of a failed monsoon and an impending drought, the need for public works and for greater numbers of workers will arise in many states, says National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy Despite all its seminal achievements, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act is at the receiving end of the most controversial critiques any government programme has received so far. We could perhaps invert this to say...