The government’s recent actions in notifying the Intermediary Guidelines for the internet with minimal public debate have resulted in the creation of a legal system that raises as many problems as it solves. The regulations as presently notified are arguably unconstitutional, arbitrary and vague and could pose a serious problem to the business of various intermediaries in the country (not to mention hampering internet penetration in the country) and also...

Agrarian crisis continued in Bengal with farmers continuing to commit suicide after failing to sell their crops. The latest such incident was reported from Malda district in North Bengal, police said. Dayal Chandra Burman a middle-aged peasant committed suicide on Sunday morning at Gajole block in Malda district after he failed to repay Rs 30,000 taken as loan from moneylenders for paddy cultivation. He failed to sell his crops for the...

-IANS A day-long shutdown began in Andhra Pradesh Monday on a call given by Dalit groups to protest the recent desecration of statues of B.R. Ambedkar. Schools, colleges, shops and business establishments remained closed in many districts while protestors blocked roads to stop buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). Student organistaions, especially Osmania University student Joint Action Committee has also called for a shutdown to protest the desecration of...

-PTI  A Dalit man’s hands and legs were chopped off by three persons in Rajgarh district because he had complained to police that they were tapping electricity from a power meter in his field. The victim, identified as Jagdish, was taken to Bhopal for treatment yesterday and was in a serious condition, the police said. Yesterday morning, at Pagari Bangla village in Rajgarh, Arjun Thakur, Shiva Gurjar and Madan attacked Jagdish with an...

The tribals in the Maoist-affected districts, including Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra of East Uttar Pradesh, seem to have been born with a burden -- poverty. With almost all the major political parties promising special packages for various regions of the state to garner votes, the situation for those living below poverty line in the region is as desperate as was a couple of decades back. Take for example Katwaru, a member...