-Hindustan Times Dhanaura (Bulandshahr): Every Wednesday, until two weeks ago, farmers from Dhanaura, adjoining villages and beyond would sell at least 500 spent (no longer productive) buffaloes to meat traders at this licenced weekly market in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, about 80 km from Delhi. Not anymore. On March 29, the second Wednesday since the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government launched its crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses, it was not business as usual at...

-The Telegraph Bihar: The rise of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has a strong implication on political inclusion of subaltern or deprived castes, as he is vocal about his backward lineage, often highlighting it at public meetings. Highlighting the phenomenon of Narendra Modi in Indian politics, Kanchan Chandra, professor of politics at New York University, said: "An inclusive democracy is desirable in itself since it sends out a signal of empowerment and...

-Hindustan Times Lucknow: Not just buffalo meat, Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow is fast heading towards a non-vegetarian crisis as entire chicken, goat meat and egg markets have begun shutting down. While more than 80% markets of non-vegetarian items already downed shutters on Friday, various traders’ associations have declared strike from Saturday. Under the circumstances, vegetable prices, which were on the decline for last one week, are likely to register a steep hike. “The indefinite...

-IndiaSpend With the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Muslim representation in India’s most populous state has plummeted from 17.1% in 2012 to 5.9%. This is equivalent to Muslim representation about a quarter of a century ago, in 1993, following the Babri Masjid riots of 1992 (5.9%) and less than two percentage points higher than recorded in 1991 (4.1%) – its lowest point – according to an IndiaSpend analysis of data from the Election Commission...

-The Hindu Under a searing sun, the Agariyas continue to make salt in the Little Rann of Kutch just as their ancestors have done down the ages A pair of black gum boots stands in the corner of Dhirubhai’s temporary shack, his home for eight months in the Little Rann of Kutch. The shack, built entirely of jute bags and plastic sheets and propped up by bamboo poles, houses nine members of...