-The Hindu The ongoing peaceful protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KKNPP), which began in the early 1980s intensified after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The protests revolve around fears over public safety and health arising from the existence and operation of the nuclear facility. The protesters, the men, women and children of Idinthakarai and surrounding villages, have consistently demanded transparency and honest public consultation. They do not need high...

-The Telegraph Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today expressed surprise over husbands of women mukhiyas and women sarpanchs running the rural parts of the state, unlike elsewhere in the country. Ramesh was on a visit to Rohtas district to review bariou development schemes undertaken in areas that have suffered because of ther Maoist violence. During his meeting, he could not find any woman mukhiya or woman sarpanch with whom he could interact...

-The Telegraph Ahmedabad, Aug. 25: A chain of farmer suicides in Saurashtra and the Congress’s initiatives to reach out to affected families appear to have put the Narendra Modi regime on the backfoot ahead of the Gujarat elections. Twelve farmers have died in the drought-hit region in the past month. But the government is still in denial mode, claiming the “deaths are not related to crop failure” and that more farmers commit...

-The Hindu Stereotypical government policies and global approaches persist in family planning programmes. Urmila is a 40-year-old domestic worker in western Uttar Pradesh. The mother of six children, all girls, she is now pregnant again and is keen on carrying on with the pregnancy. Her husband is unemployed and is an alcoholic. His relatives have assured her that they will help her to bring up the child and have also hinted...

-The Indian Express A little over 11 years ago, when the Congress defeated the Asom Gana Parishad and Tarun Gogoi took over as chief minister of Assam, people had their doubts. Would this man who had spent most of his political career since 1971 as a Lok Sabha member be able to run this state? The state, with its unique tangle of ethnicity and politics, has, after all, always been a...