-BBC More than a third of candidates elected in the recent elections in five Indian states face criminal charges, according to a study by an independent watchdog. The Association for Democratic Reforms said 35% of the legislators - 252 of the 690 - had cases pending. The ruling Congress party fared poorly in state elections that have just been held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. These polls are seen as a...
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Suchitra Mahato, senior Maoist leader, surrenders in Kolkata by Ananya Dutta
A close aide of Kishenji, she was with him when he was killed in an encounter Senior Maoist leader Suchitra Mahato, a close aide of Communist Party of India (Maoist) Polit Bureau member Koteswara Rao, alias Kishenji, surrendered in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat here on Friday. “For all these days I believed in the Maoist politics and have spent long years in the forests. But...
More »In Cold Blood
-Economic and Political Weekly Strict implementation of NHRC guidelines for investigation into fake “encounters” is a must. The killing of five suspected bank robbers in Chennai on 23 February by police officers tasked with apprehending them looks suspiciously like yet another case of a fake “encounter”. News reports following the killing have brought out various inconsistencies in the claim of the police that they fired in self-defence. After directives from the National Human...
More »Govt to set up more rice mills in rural areas
-Statesman News Service The state food department will set up rice mills on the public-private partnership (PPP) model at 158 blocks of the state. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has initiated the process to avoid any further problem in rice procurement. The crop production was high this year, but due to dearth of rice mills the state food department initially faced problem in the procurement process. State food minister Jyotipriya Mullick said: "We...
More »A decade of shame by Anupama Katakam
The victims of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat are still to get justice but are determined to continue the fight. SAIRABEN SANDHI and Rupa Mody sit quietly on the back benches at the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Ahmedabad watching the proceedings in the Zakia Jafri case. Both the women have witnessed immense tragedy. One saw her son killed, while the other has been searching for her missing son for the...
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