-The Hindu It was exactly a year ago that The Hindu wrote about the plight of abandoned and destitute women, particularly widows, who take shelter in Vrindavan, prompting the National Legal Services Authorities (NALSA) to take action. It filed a social justice litigation before the Supreme Court for ameliorating the pitiable condition of these women and directing the District Legal Services Authority of Mathura to conduct a survey of these destitute...

-The Friday Times How are demographics changing in Assam and Bengal? And what does this mean for 'indigenous' communities? Garga Chatterjee considers the argument for territorial purity The Assam state of the Indian Union has seen violence flare up suddenly from July 6th. With more than 40 people reported dead and upwards of one and a half lakh displaced in a week, the Kokrajhar riots between Bodos and Muslims have again brought...

-The Telegraph Guwahati/ Kokrajhar/ Dhubri: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today announced a judicial inquiry into the riots that began in Kokrajhar on July 20, leaving 77 dead and over four lakh displaced. The judicial probe will be over and above the inquiry to be conducted by the CBI, which has taken over seven cases on their own, Gogoi added. He, however, did not announce details of who will conduct the probe or its...

-The Hindustan Times Although some detailed exposés of India’s nefarious role in purchasing or leasing agricultural land in other countries — notably in Africa — have been surfacing in the last few years, the full picture of what some critics term a land grab and new form of colonialism has only emerged during the Rio+20 environmental meet in June. The Washington DC-based think tank, the Worldwatch Institute, released a report based...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: A special SIT court on Monday sentenced 21 people to life imprisonment for attempt to murder and arson in the 2002 post-Godhra riot of Dipda Darwaza in which 11 Muslims were killed in Visnagar town of north Gujarat. All the victims belonged to the same family.  In addition to the 21 found guilty, M K Patel, the then police inspector of Visnagar and also the first investigator...