-The Hindu Building ‘capitalism with Indian characteristics’ means decisions cannot ignore concerns of voters and communities As the economy slows down and the rupee wilts, Manmohan Singh has bitten the ‘reforms’ bullet with both eyes on the credit rating agencies whose negative reports have done much to dampen the ‘animal spirits’ of investors, foreign and native. Last November, when the Congress party made a push to introduce foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail,...

-PTI KHANDWA (MP): The National Human Rights Commission has sent notices to the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government with regard to the rehabilitation of those affected by the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar projects. Around 11,000 families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project have been rehabilitated in Gujarat but nothing of that kind has been done in Madhya Pradesh, the NHRC notice said. The NHRC has issued the notice to the Madhya Pradesh...

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic Rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...

-Outlook Alleging a Rs four lakh crore scam in iron ore mining as the state government kept renewal of licenses in abeyance, Union Minister Srikant Jena today demanded exclusive Rights to Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) over minerals. "The scam relates to renewal of licenses. Official documents show of the 107 iron ore mines in Odisha, 83 are operating by using 'deemed to' clause of the mining law," the senior Congress leader told...

-The Indian Express A group of teachers at Jamia Milia Islamia University has put together a compilation of terror cases that failed to hold up in court, all of these built by the Delhi Police Special Cell around youths they had arrested and described as terrorists. Titled “Framed, Damned and Acquitted: Dossiers of a Very Special Cell” and compiled from court judgments and media reports, the study by the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity...