-The Telegraph Hundreds of Dalits embittered by a caste clash with Jats last year today vented their anger by throwing stones at police in a restricted zone, leading to a baton-charge and several arrests. The Dalits assembled this morning outside the Hisar district collector’s office to protest against cases of atrocities by Jats. They were angry because six upper-caste Jats, among the key accused in a case of caste violence last year,...

The Centre is exploring the option of helping out Bengal by stepping up assistance for specific schemes, a route that allows room for manoeuvre within rules. The Centre’s line of thought emerged on a day Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra was in Delhi to discuss ways to Bail Out the cash-starved state government. Mitra, who had an hour- long meeting with his Union counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, remained tight-lipped on what they discussed....

Brushing aside protests from a section of landowners, a determined district administration today stepped up its land acquisition drive in Gadakujang and Nuagaon gram panchayats. Simultaneously, the authorities also worked out strategies for taking up the drive in the Dhinkia gram panchayat, the nerve-centre of anti-Posco movement. “The land acquisition process was peaceful barring a few cases where people expressed unwillingness but we managed to prevail over them,” said special land acquisition...

The dun wheat field spreading out at Ravi P. Singh's feet offered a possible clue to human destiny. Baked by a desert sun and deliberately starved of water, the plants were parched and nearly dead. Dr. Singh, a wheat breeder, grabbed seed heads that should have been plump with the staff of life. His practiced fingers found empty husks. “You're not going to feed the people with that,” he said. But then, over...

An arrest in a small corner of Chhattisgarh has become the subject of an 'urgent action' petition circulating worldwide. Amnesty International, a human rights watchdog, has urged people to write to authorities "calling on them to drop the false charges against Ramesh Agrawal and Dr Harihar Patel and release them immediately". A week ago, Agrawal and Patel were arrested in Raigarh based on a complaint filed by Jindal Power Limited. A...