Important draft legislation was recently unveiled in Rajasthan that would impose serious punishment for ‘witch-hunting’. Getting legislators to sign off on the bill, however, will prove difficult. Over the years, the women’s movement in Rajasthan has had some success in making violence against women into an important political issue. Activists have forced political parties and governments to demonstrate that they are addressing this constituency, which the media has dubbed ‘Mahila Sangathan’....

-The Times of India   Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) general secretary Akhil Gogoi is known for drawing huge crowds in his demonstration programmes. But on Monday, when the RTI activist launched an indefinite sit-in stir against the recent hike in electricity tariff, he had only three men and a woman by his side. Is people's support for his campaign on social issues on the decline? Akhil reacts instantly. "The government...

A war has broken out in some parts of east-central India, especially some regions of the Dandakaranya forests that span across the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh. Reportedly, there are thousands of Maoist guerrillas armed with sophisticated weapons confronting a vast array of paramilitary forces assembled by the government of India. Caught in the crossfire are millions of poor, marginalised and historically isolated adivasis. Their habitat, in which...

-Salem-News.com   (NAGPUR)-We have reported in the past an alarming suicide rate among farmers in India that is connected to the failure of American GMO (genetically modified organism) cotton seeds. Monsanto, the U.S. company responsible for Agent Orange, a cancer-causing chemical sprayed on the jungles of Vietnam, is now in the GMO food and seed business. Monsanto stands accused of having an international monopoly of the notorious bio-engineered Bt cotton seeds. Advocates for the...

-The Telegraph   Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi was today granted bail by Gauhati High Court in connection with the case filed by Assam police, alleging his involvement in the June 22 violence at Dispur Last Gate. A single bench of Justice Anima Hazarika granted bail after the police submitted the case diary before the court. Akhil’s lawyer Santanu Borthakur said, “The court, after going through...