His crime: he complained of corruption in rural job guarantee scheme Dhuraram Kuldiya, former Sarpanch of Somalsar Panchayat in Nohkha teshil of Bikaner district, did not sign an SOS he sent to Rajasthan Chief Secretary on Monday in the form of a letter. Instead, his son Bhanwarlal inked it. Not that Dhuraram is illiterate. Admitted to a private hospital here in the State capital now, he cannot use his hands for both...

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may claim that peace prevails everywhere in West Bengal since her party came to power in the state, but police records say a different story altogether. The state, according to the police records, has witnessed 642 political clashes, including those of student politics, across the districts in the first five months and eighteen days after Banerjee assumed power. A total of 926 political workers that include 128 students...

-The Hindu At least 100 adolescents from Madurai, Theni and Ramanathapuram districts are suspected to be engaged in units making ‘murukku' in Jharsuguda district, Orissa, said Deputy Inspector-General of police (Madurai Range) B. Bala Naga Devi here on Sunday. The Madurai Rural police arrested three persons, including a broker, on charges of forced labour and wrongful confinement of children. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Ms. Bala Naga Devi said a 15-year-old...

—PTI Two new videos have emerged that allegedly provide more proof of official involvement in “human safaris” for the benefit of tourists to see the protected Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands. The videos do not indicate the date when they were shot, but The Observer newspaper said the first film, a three minutes and 19 seconds clip, shot on a mobile phone, showed half-naked girls from the tribe dancing before an...

Pooja Gujjar is the consummate politician. She’s quick-witted and outspoken, and, as her every-ready, dimpled smile suggests, always up for a challenge. She has, admittedly, a girlish streak. The first time she stood for election she chose as her symbol a flower. And although she lost, to a boy, she’s proud that all the girls voted for her. Pooja is the deputy “sarpanch” – Hindi for leader – of her school’s...